COMPANY PROFILE
“The important thing is to have a
scheme that allows for tweaking,
either adding support or taking it away
if actual conditions are discovered
to be better than predicted.”
– Nadir Ansari
Great Things Begin with a
Solid Foundation
Great Things Begin with a
Marine Structures | D e m o l it i o n | H e a v y L i f t | D r e d g i n g | Pile Driving
Solid Foundation
8661 201st Street, 2nd Floor Langley, BC V2Y 0G9
T: 604 398-4170 | www.pacificpile.com
Marine Structures | D e m o l it i o n | H e a v y L i f t | D r e d g i n g | Pile Driving
8661 201st Street, 2nd Floor Langley, BC V2Y 0G9
T: 604 398-4170 | www.pacificpile.com
construction are ever-more challenging,
Ansari said.
In the past decade IGE has
designed many façade-support projects,
including the King Blue project
in the city’s downtown core, where
shoring and support were required for
a six-storey historical façade; the highest
project of this kind in Toronto’s
history, at the time. Due to the tight
access, IGE’s design used micropiles
for gravity and wind loads for the
façade support structure, as well as
lateral earth pressure loading for the
excavation shoring wall. “An industry
first, to my knowledge,” Ansari said,
“with less than 14-inch diameter
bored holes threaded between the
existing utilities.
“With old buildings you never
know what renovations they’ve had
done, what beams they’ve taken out
or what they’ve done to the brick or
the window lintels. We are careful
to build flexibility into our designs
to suit actual conditions as they are
uncovered during installation, which
enables us to respond quickly and
ensures safety of people and structures
and continuity of work,” he said. “The
important thing is to have a scheme
that allows for tweaking, either adding
support or taking it away if actual
conditions are discovered to be better
than predicted.”
IGE shares its findings with stakeholders
and proposes the best course
of action at “Red Flag Meetings,” where
every entity involved in the project
can ask questions and add their
expertise in a completely transparent
back-and-forth process, an industry
first, says Ansari.
“All walk away knowing we’re on
the same page and know the project
challenges,” Ansari said. Leveraging
everyone’s experience and expertise
also allows IGE to evaluate on-site
safety, check project timelines and keep
client costs within budget, he added.
Clients often get the firm involved
even before buying the land
Modern subsurface geoengineering is
an art as much as a science, observed
Ansari, noting that every site is unique
and has constraints that benefit from
creative thinking, “whether that’s
evaluating soil ‘personality,’ developing
shoring solutions that preserve buildings
adjacent to or on the worksite or
designing for tight spaces,” he said.
Working as a team and identifying and
solving complex challenges – often
ones that clients didn’t even realize
they had – all requires a kind of creative
discipline,” said Ansari. “Techniques
are continually improving and we’re
constantly learning, project by project.”
Brian Isherwood, still a key company
resource, created a culture of creative
problem-solving almost 46 years ago
and, “I still find the can-do attitude at
Isherwood refreshing – you can always
solve a problem when you put the right
team together,” said Ansari.
The company’s technical excellence,
practical knowledge, balanced
designs, client engagement and
longevity in the industry offers the
“complete solution” for its clients, he
said. “With can-do people, we can do
just about anything.”
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/www.pacificpile.com
/www.pacificpile.com
