INDUSTRY NEWS
“We’ve worked hard to make this a great deal for our
survey, engineering and construction customers in Ontario
and Quebec,” said Brandt CEO, Shaun Semple. “Our national
infrastructure will allow us to build on the strong foundation
laid down by the GeoShack and INTEQ teams to deliver
greater-than-ever access to equipment and support services.”
The GeoShack and INTEQ brands and operations will be
transitioned into Brandt’s nation-wide positioning technology
division.
A recent agreement with Topcon Positioning Systems,
Inc., has also assigned Brandt distribution rights for the
Quebec market, making them the exclusive dealer for
Topcon construction and geopositioning products for all of
Canada. Brandt’s 56 locations from coast-to-coast, coupled
with GeoShack’s strategic locations in Ontario will position
Brandt, with one of industry’s largest team of experts, to provide
an unmatched degree of aftersales support.
In combination with Brandt’s pre-existing Topcon footprint
in Western and Atlantic Canada, these additions have
given Brandt a comprehensive retail footprint to supply
premium geopositioning equipment to the entire Canadian
market. The agreement further establishes the firm’s position
as one of the country’s premier privately held companies.
Construction holds up well during pandemic
Construction activity has held up relatively well during
the pandemic, as – other than a brief shutdown in parts of
Canada in April – it has largely been able to continue operating
near capacity, according to an outlook for the sector in
the BMO Blue Book.
The report notes that residential construction will remain
solid in the near term, with housing starts expected to
rebound to 215,000 units in 2021, from 195,000 in 2020.
“The average of the two years marks only a slight downshift
from home-building activity in recent years,” said Doug
Porter, chief economist, BMO Financial Group.
Non-residential construction should remain mixed.
“Construction in the oil sector will likely remain quite
Q/A Testing Solutions
for Driven Piles
subdued given the oil price backdrop, and office and retail
construction will also be weak,” said Porter. “However,
public-sector infrastructure investment should remain solid,
particularly if federal and provincial budgets focus on stimulus
post-COVID. Some provinces have already hinted at
pulling forward capital spending programs to support economic
growth.”
The BMO Blue Book can be downloaded at:
bit.ly/bmo_blue_pdf.
Pile Dynamics offers a variety of testing solutions for driven piles. The Pile Driving Analyzer® is a
reliable and cost effective QA testing system that evaluates shaft integrity, driving stresses and
hammer energy when monitoring pile installation. CAPWAP® signal matching software uses PDA
data to estimate total bearing capacity and resistance distribution along the shaft at the toe. The
E-Saximeter registers all relevant pile driving parameters.
To learn more about QA testing solutions for driven piles, visit www.pile.com.
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/www.pile.com
/www.pilingcanada.ca