“We told our client in advance that our guys were doing
the practical exam on this day and needed to be off and they
were all for it. Even though they lost a day of production, they
knew that, in the grand scheme of things, it was important to
be able to provide them an additional layer of assurance that
they’re not going to have a safety issue on their site, now or
in future projects. Customers care about this certification.”
NAIT informs students that they stand to gain enhanced
knowledge of safety, including the ability to minimize risks,
more credibility that allows employers to have increased
confidence in their skills and employability and job security
by providing a leg up on others who are uncertified.
“If I’m looking at a resume and see that someone was
driven to complete the program, it would definitely give them
an advantage,” said Smith.
About Midwest Caissons
There’s a reason Midwest Caissons was keenly interested in
helping to spearhead the drill rig operator certification
program: a concern for safety is in its DNA.
“The four core values that drive our company are safety,
integrity, quality and competency. The drill rig operator
program hits all of them. It made a lot of sense for us to get
involved,” said Gravel.
The original company was founded by Albert and Rose
Smith in 2001. When they were looking to close the business
in 2014, employees Todd Smith and Sutherland incorporated
as Midwest Caissons. “At that point, we focused on cast-inplace
piling. Over the last five years, we’ve expanded our fleet
and have ventured out into different areas such as screw
piles, value engineering and pile load testing,” said Smith.
They exclusively focus on commercial projects, including
recreation centres, commercial retail units, schools, hospitals
and fire halls in B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba, although
most of their work is in northern Alberta.
“Predominantly our customers would be general contractors
such as Clark Builders, Scott Builders, Cove Properties, Bird
Construction, Carlson Construction and others who we regularly
work with,” said Sutherland.
Since Smith and Sutherland took over, the number of
employees has roughly doubled to 30, including eight
administrative staff, five full-time drill rig operators and
two relief drillers, plus a mechanic, welder and small ground
team. They have six drill rigs in their fleet, one screw pile rig
and static load test equipment. With Watmough’s geotechnical
expertise, they do their own in-house engineering.
Smith says the quality of their employees has been
integral to their success and growth. Many have been with
the company for 10 or more years and they experience very
little turnover.
In his HR capacity at Midwest Caissons, Gravel is proud
to highlight the “can-do” attitude of the business. “Everyone
looks out for one another and that’s what drives the culture
here. I think that is probably our greatest strength. We get a
lot of repeat business and it’s because of the work we do, the
guys on site and the relationships they build on the front line.”
Sutherland emphasizes the importance of developing
long-term relationships with every job, whether it’s one
building or 100. “If they’re building one, there’s a chance
they’ll build another one day. And I think our best practice
is doing the right thing the first time. We ask our guys to do
their best and we support them as they do that.”
As construction manager, Sneddon says it’s important
to take a client’s problem and provide a solution. “We want
to give them the confidence that we can execute and that
includes our guys, our equipment, our in-house engineering
and our ability to prove our solutions.”
Watmough says a good example of this ethos is their work
on Edmonton’s Dr. Anne Anderson High School, a two-year
build that required more than 800 piles and an intensive
static load test. “With our customer, Clark Builders, we
went through design a couple of times and we managed to
decrease the size of piles by around 10 to 15 per cent. This
impacted the cost, size and schedule in a very positive way.”
Gravel remembers a concerning situation that arose on
that project, but the quick-thinking and planning of Midwest
Caisson employees controlled the problem. “We ran into subsurface
conditions that were unknown and there was methane
EDUCATION & TRAINING
A truck rig and track mount on
the Tamarack Theatre jobsite
54 Q4 2019 www.pilingcanada.ca
/www.pilingcanada.ca
