In addition to the tides, Heavy Metal Marine also had to
endure the harsh northern West Coast weather throughout
the winter months.
“You can get some ugly weather up there and it can be
tough on the crew and rough on the equipment,” said Freethy.
“Our team experienced a lot of wind, a lot of cold, a lot of rain
and had days where things were frozen solid. But we have
some really good people who work for us and, when we send
them to these kinds of projects, they always deliver. It’s their
work that makes us look good.”
Heavy Metal Marine strives to maintain an environmentally
sound and safe work site, complying with all
environmental laws and policies wherever the company
is working.
The company drilled with reverse circulation so all drill
cuttings and debris went back up the drill rod, where it could
then be captured by a cyclone system and deposited into a
spoil bin. The water was then filtered, cleaned and returned
to the environment. Heavy Metal Marine also ensured all
piles were isolated from the environment through the use of
silt curtains.
“We were working right next to where live crabs were
unloaded off the boats and stored, with water being drawn
for that purpose coming directly from our work area,” said
Freethy. “We needed to be exceptionally strict with our
environmental controls during construction, keeping the
turbidity on the water low so that we didn’t have any issues
with contaminating the water that would impact the crabs.”
In addition to maintaining the water quality in the area,
Heavy Metal Marine needed to be cognizant of any aquatic
wildlife that might be in the water. To do this, Public Works
enlisted Vancouver-based Balanced Environmental Services
to monitor the noise generated by drilling during the project
with a hydrophone to ensure nearby sea-life would
be unaffected.
Heavy Metal Marine is committed to the task of
establishing and maintaining a safe and healthy work environment.
As such the company addresses unsafe situations
in a timely and effective manner, and ensures that its equipment
is maintained and certified to meet or exceed all
WorkSafeBC requirements.
“We always strive to maintain a zero-accident work
environment, which we were able to accomplish with this
project,” said Freethy. “We finished ahead of schedule with no
reportable incidents or environmental issues for the entirety
of the project and, from that perspective alone, we feel that
this was an extremely successful project for us.”
The response from the client on the work completed by
Heavy Metal Marine to date has been very positive. All piles
are well within tolerance and the project engineer has gone
as far to say that the piles installed by the company have been
some of the best drilled piles he has encountered. Public
Works and Government Services Canada has provided excellent
feedback on the project and are very satisfied with what
Heavy Metal Marine has been able to achieve.
“We always aim to deliver a superior product that meets
– or exceeds – the expectations of our customers, and it is
always gratifying to hear that we were able to do just that,”
said Freethy. “The response we receive is a reflection of our
crew and of what we strive to deliver as a company. We are
known for thinking outside of the box and that’s how we keep
getting these types of projects.”
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
Heavy Metal Marine was able to install piles at
a rate of approximately one pile per hour
Completed piles leading up to the new wharf
10 Q2 2020 www.pilingcanada.ca
/www.pilingcanada.ca
