Rebuilding the Blanche River Bridge

American Piledriving Equipment Inc. brings its deep foundation experience to northern Ontario, helping to install wick drains in the rebuild of the century-old Blanche River Bridge By Paul Adair In March 2019, the Government of Ontario announced that it would be investing $1.3 billion to help rebuild and restore 123 highway projects across the province, of which $291 million has been earmarked to support infrastructure renewal projects throughout northeastern Ontario. One of these important projects was the replacement of the Blanche River Bridge on Highway 569, near New Liskeard.

Helical Expertise in the Keystone Province

The Manitoba-Minnesota Transmission Project strengthens Manitoba's electricity supply and improves access to U.S. markets, while supporting export sales to keep rates lower for Manitobans. Roterra Piling Ltd. is doing its part to make it happen. By Paul Adair After being given the green light by the federal government last year, Manitoba Hydro is now constructing the Manitoba-Minnesota Transmission Project (MMTP), a 500-kilovolt AC transmission line that runs 213 kilometres from northeast of Winnipeg to the U.S. border in southeastern Manitoba, where it connects with Minnesota's soon-to-be completed Great Northern Transmission Line.

Laying the Foundation

Powell Foundations' work on the Highway 427 expansion in Ontario By Paul Adair In May 2018, the province of Ontario broke ground on the expansion of Highway 427 through York Region as a way to help improve traffic flow, create jobs and support economic growth in one of Canada's most populous regions. This $616 million investment includes a new 6.6-kilometre extension from Highway 7 up to Major Mackenzie Drive, with eight lanes from Highway 7 to Rutherford Road and six lanes from Rutherford Road to Major Mackenzie Drive. In addition, there are three new interchanges at Langstaff Road, Rutherford Road and Major Mackenzie Drive.

Building Peace of Mind

A five-kilometre sheet-pile dike wall was accomplished in three-and-a-half months By Barb Feldman By late April of 2019, a cold, snowy winter, a late spring melt and an unusually rainy spring led to extremely high water upstream of the St. Lawrence River system in areas of Quebec east of Ottawa and Cornwall, Ont. On the evening of April 27, 2019, in the region of Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, an off-island suburban community of 18,000 about 40 kilometres northwest of Montreal, a 20-metre breach in a natural earthen dike quickly became wider as the high, rushing water from Lac des Deux-Montagnes coursed through the weakened structure, which then completely broke down.

BELCO North Power Station Project: Hamilton, Bermuda

Brewster Drilling and Piling and Burmeister Wains Scandinavian Contractors overcame logistical challenges brought on by a remote island location in the Atlantic Ocean By Lisa Kopochinski It was back in December 2017 that Brewster Drilling and Piling - a division of FTE Drilling, with locations in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Quebec, and Ontario - was contacted by Burmeister Wains Scandinavian Contractors (BWSC). The Danish global turnkey developer, contractor and operator of tailored engine-based and boiler-based power plants tapped the Canadian company to assist with a piling solution for the BELCO North Power Station in Bermuda.

A Hidden Danger

Suicide is killing construction workers. What can we do? By Jill Harris, Lester Communications Inc. Construction sites can be high-risk working environments; potentially hazardous conditions are often everyday job components. According to Canadian insurance firm Aviva, the top causes of construction injuries and fatalities in the country are slips, trips and falls; falls from heights; struck by moving vehicles or falling objects; and electrocution.

North America’s Tallest Building on Helical Piles

Revolutionary engineering technology proves to be the best, most efficient and most economical solution for a challenging site By Barb Feldman One Richmond Row, a 32-storey apartment tower rising in London, Ont., will soon be the tallest building on helical piles in North America. The project site at 517 Richmond St. is in the middle of a city block in a desirable area of downtown London. That was one of the developer's main selling points to potential renters of its one-bedroom and two-bedroom suites, who will be “immersed in the culture and excitement of a thriving city centre.”

DFI publishes new white paper on Crosshole Sonic Logging (CSL)

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Steel Piling USA, a new competitive supplier of cold rolled steel piling

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Innovative QA solutions driven by Pile Dynamics, Inc.

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Pile Master air hammers hit the pile driving market

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Revolutionary new side gripper offers higher reliability

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Underground Investigation and Risk Management – Part 2

Risk and projects By Masoud Manzari, P.Eng. and Mark Tigchelaar, P. Eng., GeoSolv Design/Build The first article of this series covered “What is Risk?” Now we will discuss how risk and projects interact.

The Art of Networking Inside Your Company

How to build camaraderie, co-operation and a cohesive team By Liz Goodgold When we hear the term “networking,” most of us think about meeting folks outside of our company. However, the true power of networking resides with making a connection inside of your company.

Is Your Bias Showing?

How to spot and change unconscious bias in the workplace By Ron Price and Stacy Ennis Unconscious bias matters. Greatly. Not just for the people on the receiving end of bias, but also for the leaders, teams and companies who are missing out on a team that is diversified through age, race, gender and other factors.

Let’s Get Political

Getting involved with local, provincial and federal government can help steer the change that impacts your business By Melissa Campeau When you consider a deep foundations contractor's long list of responsibilities, political activism doesn't usually spring to mind - but business owners who ignore government affairs do so at their own risk.

Safety First

Midwest Caissons helps spearhead much-needed drill rig operator certification program By Heather Hudson Every industry has its blind spots. For technology companies, it's the failure to protect the privacy of customer data. In retail, it's dangerous and unfair labour practices in overseas manufacturing facilities. Once identified, measures can be taken to address and eradicate a blind spot, but it often takes a tragedy before industries are moved to act.

Whale Tail Dike

Henry Foundation Drilling Inc. innovates to complete unique piling project in Nunavut By Olive Taylor When Don Henry, the president of Henry Foundation Drilling Inc. (HFDI), learned his team had been awarded the contract to construct a secant pile wall in the middle of Whale Tail Lake in Nunavut, he knew the project would be unlike any other.