“It’s been so long since we took the vote, and you’re starting
to hear things from some people like, ‘Just get it done,’ or,
‘I’m an actioner,’ meaning: ‘I just want action to get us out of
this almost no-man’s land that we’re in.’ It’s very frustrating
for us all.”
Impact of tariffs
Fazli Shah is senior project manager for Keller Canada. He
says the U.S. government’s decision to impose tariffs on
important metal building materials (25 per cent for steel and
10 per cent for aluminum) in 2018 has had a “very significant”
impact on the construction industry in Canada.
The tariffs were removed earlier this year, but prior to that,
the duties led to a sizable increase in material costs for building
projects in this country.
Shah says the tariffs also resulted in a great deal of uncertainty
around steel prices that made it difficult for piling companies
and others in the construction sector in Canada in terms of
cost control.
He says the Canadian construction market is feeling the
effects of political uncertainty in some regions of the world as
well as a slowdown in important global markets in China and
elsewhere that’s putting a damper on the Canadian economy.
“In general, the construction industry is always driven
by the economic growth. With Canada being a commodity-
or natural resources-based economy…when an economic
slowdown happens, as it is right now, that slows everything
down,” he said.
However, Shah expects the Canadian construction market
will bounce back quickly once global economies start to heat
up again.
“The construction industry is very much at the front end of
this process because it gets affected really rapidly as soon as
a slowdown happens. The same goes for when an economic
COVER FEATURE
AARSLEFF GROUND ENGINEERING
rise happens – some other sectors of the society may see the
trickle-down effect a little later, but the construction industry
is usually one of the first to react to it.”
Market conditions in Europe
Hague says Aarsleff Ground Engineering, which is a subsidiary
of the Danish civil engineering and construction company
Per Aarsleff A/S, does business in number of other European
countries aside from the U.K., including Germany, Poland,
Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
Hague describes the current building situation in other
European markets beyond the U.K. as “a bit of mixed bag,”
with no construction market either extremely strong or
extremely weak at the moment.
“From what we see in Germany, there is definitely
construction going on, but it seems to be more specialist
activity,” he said. “It’s a broad mix in France. There are some
major capital projects, such as a large metro system being
built in Paris right now that’s taking up a lot of resources and
a lot of equipment.
“In Sweden, we’re seeing reasonable market conditions for
the type of ground engineering work that we’re involved with
there,” Hague added. “Denmark has been a good market for
us this year, with a lot of construction activity going on.”
Piling solution differences
Hague says there’s a wide range of piling methods employed
across Europe, with different regions, countries or even cities
favouring different kinds of piling solutions.
“There are differences. They are regional. They are cultural.
And ground conditions also drive these differences,” he said.
“In the U.K., the traditional piling method is rotary bore.
The driven pile is not the natural choice. In Europe, it’s very
different. The natural choice is a driven pile mostly. There will
A screenshot of Aarsleff’s virtual reality simulator
PILING CANADA 31