office. The company established PND Engineers Canada Inc.
in 2013 with Watters in charge of the Canadian subsidiary.
Seattle-based principal Bill Gunderson and Houston-based
senior vice president Kenton Braun also have important roles
in the Canadian enterprise.
“A milestone project we just finished last year was a designbuild
project we did with Prince George, B.C.-headquartered
Ruskin Construction for Baffinland Iron Mines,” said Watters.
Editor’s note: Read Piling Canada’s project spotlight on the
Baffinland Iron Mines in the Quarter 2 2015 edition, available
online at www.pilingcanada.ca. They designed and constructed
an iron ore dock facility on Baffin Island in Nunavut
that includes a 22-metre-tall structure. Completed in 2015,
the entire project progressed from concept to completion in
a year and a half – a tight timeline that was all the more difficult
to meet given the tough environmental conditions in the
Arctic Circle. PND’s proprietary OPEN CELL technology was
a key ingredient in the project’s success.
Soil conditions (including permafrost), weather conditions
and months of round-the-clock darkness all added to
the project’s degree of difficulty, but Watters says the most
challenging part of the Baffin Island project may well have
been getting materials to site. Large components were
shipped in by water from fabrication facilities in Ontario and
Quebec while Arctic climate patterns allowed it, as the shipping
season in the region runs only from August to October.
At a considerably lower latitude, PND Engineers
Canada is currently working with Ruskin Construction on
another design-build project – this one for Seaspan Ferries
Corporation, building a new ferry terminal on Vancouver
Island. “We’re able to save some significant money and time
for the owner,” said Watters, “and for that reason, we were
accepted for this project.”
Asked to describe the PND brand, Watters says the firm is
“advanced and innovative. We’re known for our Arctic experience
and proprietary systems, OPEN CELL and SPIN FIN
piles, and for finding ways to save clients time and money.
“We’re not a generic marine engineering company,” he
said. “We like to do the unusual, and not the typical engineering
focus. We are a go-to engineering firm for when projects
are challenging and need resourcefulness.”
Watters sees a bright future for PND Engineers Canada.
“We expect to have a growing company here in Canada,
and meet our target objectives here in the next two or three
years,” he said.
COMPANY PROFILE
PND Engineers Canada worked with Ruskin Construction to construct this port facility for Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation
SPIN FIN piles were used in construction of
this cruise ship terminal in B.C.
46 Q3 2016 www.pilingcanada.ca
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