“It’s because of Anchor’s achievements that I’ve received
these awards – and any time you can get positive press for construction,
that’s a good thing, too,” she said.
In its almost five decades, Anchor completed more than
4,500 projects across Ontario and in Newfoundland, New
Brunswick and Quebec, including foundation work for many
of Toronto’s high-profile buildings: the Toronto Eaton Centre,
many of the Financial District’s high-rise buildings, the Toronto
Transit Commission’s Yonge Sheppard Station, various phases
of its York-Spadina subway extension and Yonge and Leslie stations,
Toronto Hydro’s Simcoe Tunnel expansion, the Hospital
for Sick Children and North York General Hospital, MaRS
Discovery District, Royal Ontario Museum, One Bloor East,
the Air Canada Centre and Maple Leaf Square and the Metro
Toronto Convention Centre, as well as the Union-Pearson (UP)
Express Link, OPG Darlington and Windsor Casino. They also
installed more than a thousand caissons for high mast lighting
and overhead signs on Ontario’s 400-series highways.
Strengthening GFL’s ability to complete
large-scale contracts
By 2015, Anchor employed a workforce of 180; they will join
the GFL Environmental team of more than 2,000 employees.
Since its establishment in 2007, GFL has expanded to eight
provinces and completed numerous acquisitions. In addition
to its commercial and residential waste removal and management
services, it already offered site excavation, remediation
and demolition as well as contaminated soil treatment.
According to GFL’s announcement on Jan. 18, 2016, GFL
Environmental’s CEO and founder, Patrick Dovigi, says that
adding earth retention and foundation systems to the capabilities
of GFL Excavating Corporation has strengthened the
company’s ability to complete large-scale contracts in the significant
number of infrastructure, commercial and residential
projects that have been announced for the Province of Ontario
in the coming five years.
“Shoring is a natural extension to some of the other work
GFL does – they’re two complementary businesses and there’s
a synergy between us,” said Tattle. “Shoring demands very high
quality standards throughout all phases of the work, from
design through construction, because it protects streets and
buildings and supports the soil during the excavation phase of
the project.”
Being able to offer demolition, excavation and shoring services
together “was just the next step in our future, expanding
our services to clients,” she said. Having more control of the
site itself could lead to improved safety, as well.
Anchor has been COR™ certified by Canada’s Infrastructure
Health & Safety Association (IHSA), which recognizes companies
for their health and safety management systems.
“The coordinated flow of materials and equipment is key to
the safety and success of a project,” she said.
Anchor and GFL had already worked together on multiple
projects, such as on Toronto’s Yorkdale expansion project,
where GFL worked on the excavation and demolition phase.
“Yorkdale was a complicated job with a caisson wall supported
by tie-backs and some micropiling work that had to be
done in low-headroom conditions, which is a slower and more
complicated process,” since the steel members in the micropiles
were coupled and in shorter sections, said Tattle. The
project involved installing 4,250 square metres of caisson wall;
4,180 square metres of soldier pile and lagging; 7,740 metres of
vertical drilling; 460 holes (205 piles and 255 fillers); 453 tonnes
of steel; 6,000 cubic metres of concrete; 500 tiebacks with a
total of 7,620 metres of tieback drilling; and 65 micropiles with
762 metres of drilling.
“The commitment of Patrick Dovigi to safety first was key to
our decision to join their team,” said Tattle. “We have witnessed
first-hand how experienced and committed their world-class
team of safety professionals really are.”
Designing creative solutions for challenging problems
Anchor puts an emphasis on value engineering, often proposing
more efficient and less costly solutions to various
foundation challenges or modified equipment to suit specific
projects.
“Modifications to equipment to suit specific projects are
something we’re very creative about,” said Tattle. Look at
Anchor’s reverse-circulating tieback drill, for example.
“It allows us to sit at a higher level. So where there are
poor ground conditions, we can sit our machine up at grade
and drill through a berm.” said Tattle. “If we see a job that has a
need for something we don’t have or isn’t commercially available,
we’ll brainstorm and say, ‘How do we do this?’”
In addition to working on projects with GFL, “We will
continue do our work of shoring, pile driving, shortcreting,
micopiles and caissons, and continue to bid and work on projects
in a design build capacity as Anchor Shoring,” said Tattle.
Construction is deadline-driven, and delays or disagreements
between trades are big risk factors on a project for
developers, she says.
“Below-grade work is one of the most difficult parts of a
project – soil conditions are often challenging, there’s the
potential for contaminants in the ground and inclement
weather and we’re often working in tight quarters and need
close coordination between the trades – all factors that can
impact the schedule. The ability to minimize risk is something
that clients are really looking for,” said Tattle. “The support of
GFL improves our ability to minimize these risks and, together,
we can take on a larger role in projects.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Anchor and GFL previously teamed up to work on Toronto’s
Yorkdale expansion project
52 Q1 2016 www.pilingcanada.ca
/www.pilingcanada.ca
