retention, high capacity cast in place piles and high capac-ity
helical steel screw piles. IPS used three different pieces of
piling equipment, including a DH40 LoDril, a Watson 2500
crawler mount and a Hitachi 270 with an Eskridge D1400
drive head.
“Reaching deep into our equipment inventory was defi-nitely
a reason this project was so successful and we pride
ourselves on the diversity and capability of our deep founda-tion
equipment,” said Cote.
“We basically went in armed for bear,” he continued. “We
needed equipment to drill through the Saskatoon rock. At one
point, we were working on the building’s structural piling
on the east end of the site where the power lines and build-ing
almost intersect, which had about 16 feet of working
clearance, due to the de-energized power lines. So, a DH40
LoDril was a primary selection for us because the rotary and
Kelly bar attachment is so compact and the rig has enough
rotary torque to core and break up the rock.”
IPS crews finished work on the Monarch Building on Nov.
14, 2018. Cote said the weather largely co-operated through-out
the project and it was a pleasure to work with the other
local contractors on the job.
“I think this job went very well, even considering what
we were up against,” he said. “Other companies come in to
work in downtown Saskatoon and they are often unprepared.
Local geotechnical knowledge is gold in our business. We
went in expecting the worst drilling we’d done all year, and it
was – but we were prepared.”
Material suppliers for the Monarch Building project
included Burnco Rock Products, Helical Pier Systems, Ardel
Steel, Varsteel, L&M Wood Products, Browns Landscaping
and Leveling, Atel Concrete, and Turner’s Transport.
Cote said the building owner was pleased with the on-time
and under-budget performance of IPS. Plus, he himself
is proud that his crews had no safety-related incidents on
the site.
“Our culture of safety is a very important value to us and
we were faced with challenges every step of the way, but we
handled them efficiently and safely.
“It was a challenging project, but that does not deter the
success we had in both the construction and safety aspects,
even though we were performing some of the most danger-ous
piling procedures.”
GREAT CANADIAN PROJECTS
Fraser River Pile & Dredge (GP) Inc.
As Canada’s largest Marine Construction, Land Foundations and Dredging contractor, FRPD is a
recognized leader that employs state of the art methods and equipment. FRPD’s versatile fleet is ready
to complete all scope and size Marine Construction, Environmental Remediation, Dredging and Land
Foundation projects. Established in 1911 as Fraser River Pile Driving Company and incorporated in
2008 as Fraser River Pile & Dredge (GP) Inc., FRPD’s team of highly skilled professionals brings more
than 100 years of experience and commitment to exceeding expectations.
1830 River Drive, New Westminster, B.C. V3M 2A8
Phone: 604-522-7971 (24/7)
www.frpd.com info@frpd.com
“We had to do our own hauling
because it was downtown in
a very congested area. Some
of the moves happened at
midnight and some at 3 a.m.
to avoid traffic. That was the
biggest work-around for us.”
– Banain Cote, Innovative Piling Solutions
48 Q1 2019 www.pilingcanada.ca
/www.frpd.com
/www.pilingcanada.ca
