If you associate hoodoos with Alberta, or maybe New Brunswick, or the American Southwest, be advised you can see something similar right here in Ottawa. At the new Bayview Station construction site.

Our hoodoos are about two stories tall and encrusted with local roadbed base.

And there is more than one:

The hoodoos are created by forces of nature called RTG. Using massive forces, RTG drills holes in the ground, lines the hole with a steel pipe, and pumps in liquified rock (aka concrete) . Since the containing steel cylinder form is withdrawn at the same time as the rock is created, the new concrete fills in drill hole voids and adheres to adjacent rock materials.

In the specific cases above, the surrounding fill was later removed to permit other construction work, leaving our “hoodoo”. Presumably the rough stone exterior will be concealed later.

Down at track level, the cement piers are 28-33′ feet deep. They go through the river till (mix of small stones and sand and grit) and a foot or two into be bedrock. The steel rebar structure shown is to inserted into a form before the concrete is poured.

The stations were designed behind closed doors. By professional architects and planners. Who, it is rumoured, have occasionally actually used (or at least seen) transit. But only rarely. Consultation with actual users? Not required, not wanted.

What could possibly go wrong?