GREAT CANADIAN PROJECTS
The Monarch
Building
Situated in bustling downtown
Saskatoon, this two-storey infill
development project presented
numerous logistical challenges
for Innovative Piling Solutions,
including a confined workspace and
significant geotechnical constraints
By Lisa Gordon
Saskatoon’s City Park neighbourhood is a vibrant
downtown mixed-use area bordered by the South
Saskatchewan River to the east, railway tracks to
the west, 33rd Street to the north, and 25th Street
to the south. Along with all types of residential homes, the
area offers a host of desirable amenities including schools,
parks, Saskatoon City Hospital, shopping, restaurants and
leisure programs.
Busy Queen Street is lined with commercial businesses
and is also the most direct route to Saskatoon City Hospital.
It’s a challenging environment for any type of construction
project – and that’s before you look below the surface.
“Some contractors won’t work in downtown Saskatoon
because it’s too hard to dig there,” said Banain Cote, presi-dent
and CEO of Innovative Piling Solutions (IPS), which is
headquartered in nearby Martensville, Sask. “The ground is
firm till until about 10 feet, and then there is a five-foot-thick
layer of boulders, and under that is very hard glacial till with
SPT standard penetration test values approaching 80.”
That’s exactly what IPS encountered when it was hired
in mid-July 2018 to provide a soldier pile and wood lag-ging
shoring wall for temporary earth retention – as well
as underpinning and structural piling installation – for the
new Monarch Building, a two-storey commercial infill devel-opment
at the southeast corner of Queen Street and 2nd
Avenue North. The site is the former home of Ming’s Kitchen
and Juliette’s Dance Centre, both Saskatoon landmarks that
were demolished to make way for the new 17,000-square-foot
retail and office development.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF INNOVATIVE PILING SOLUTIONS
PILING CANADA 45