Meeting Arctic Demands

PND Engineers tackles tough projects in the north By Mike Stimpson Innovation, adaptability and finding solutions for the challenges of building in Arctic and marine environments: PND Engineers has developed a solid reputation for all these things over the course of its 37-year history. That pattern of excellence continues as the U.S.-headquartered civil and structural engineering firm expands its reach in Canada's north through a Canadian subsidiary. A prime example of PND's innovation is the firm's proprietary (and award-winning) OPEN CELL® sheet pile technology, used over 200 times since PND Engineers developed it in the early 1980s for bridge abutments in Alaska's North Slope region. PND's website says OPEN CELL systems have “been used effectively in locations where other traditional bulkhead systems cannot work, including severe ice conditions, soft soils, exposed bedrock, deep water, high loading conditions, extensive scour and seismic events.”

Experienced Hands

For over 40 years, Waterworks Construction Inc. has been building its toolkit of experience and reliability By Kelly Gray When the chips are down and the needs are high, it's just another day for Dartmouth, Nova Scotia-based Waterworks Construction Inc. Since 1975, this Atlantic Canada company has been earning a solid reputation as the go-to guys for all types of piling and unique or challenging heavy civil infrastructure. Today, Waterworks undertakes projects all over the Atlantic Coast including Labrador and Nunavut, as well as the Northwest Territories. According to project manager Greg Kerr, his father started the business in the '70s while studying engineering at university.

Rigours of the North

Ledger Foundations has been doing deep foundation work for oil and gas projects - mostly in northern locations and under challenging conditions - for 10 years now By Mark Halsall Workers with Ledcor Foundations have been specializing in deep foundation work for oil and gas projects in northern Alberta and British Columbia since 2006. One of the things they've learned this past decade is that it takes a strong commitment to work in remote locations in the north. “It's tough on the people being away from home and in a work camp for 14 days straight. Not everybody wants to get out of bed, get on a plane and go to work for two weeks, and then only be back home for a week. It takes a commitment to work in this sector,” said Jerrod Dersch, operations manager for Ledcor Foundations.

Hard Roads, Tough Haul

Canada's remote northern communities rely on a network of challenging winter and ice roads. Transport firms have stepped up with logistics and experience to get goods to isolated residents. By Kelly Gray Canada has some very unforgiving northern territory when it comes to moving freight. The weather is brutal and the infrastructure is a constant challenge with thawing permafrost, heaving roadbeds and winter ice roads open fewer weeks than ever. Indeed, just getting cartons of milk to remote First Nations communities can be a daunting task. Consider the challenges of getting multi-ton construction piles, turbine blades or heavy equipment to sites that are accessible only during winter months along a network of ice and winter roads that add to the complexity of construction projects.

Filling the Gap

As baby boomers retire and the traditional labour pool shrinks, the construction industry is focusing on alternative workforces. Canada's young, fast-growing Aboriginal population is an attractive proposition for an industry eager to engage the next generation. By Lisa Gordon For years, analysts have sounded the alarm about the coming retirement of the baby boomers and how their exit from the workforce will impact the Canadian economy. According to a special report published in e Globe and Mail in November 2015, Canadian labour market growth is expected to stagnate in the 2020s as retiring boomers create vacancies that employers will struggle to fill, keeping real economic growth below two per cent annually over the next decade. Add to that the country's declining birth rate, and it's clear that something must be done to tap into and develop new labour sources. Many in the construction sector have turned their attention to the country's Aboriginal communities - including First Nations, Metis and Inuit people - who combined represent the fastest growing, youngest segment of the Canadian population. According to an article published by Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. of B.C., it is estimated that more than 600,000 Aboriginal youth will enter the labour market between 2001 and 2026.

Prepping Heavy Equipment for Remote Jobs

Lost time can be prevented by properly planning the project, having the recommended parts on site, and scheduling sufficient time for inspections and maintenance on the equipment By Lisa Kopochinski One needs only to watch the television show Ice Road Truckers - which features drivers who operate trucks across frozen lakes, rivers and tundra in both Alaska and Canada's north - to get an idea of the challenges involved when transporting equipment and supplies to remote locations in extreme and often treacherous conditions. These conditions also spotlight the importance of diligent planning to help ensure that heavy equipment will perform at peak capacity once they reach these locations. Machines must not only be prepped and maintained prior to transport, but inspected and maintained regularly on site.

Meet a Piling Professional

Mario Roussel, Selix Equipment Describe your current job.My day-to-day job is to organize everything with suppliers and manufactures for all the equipment brands we represent and make sure all financial aspects of the company are in order. What are your areas of responsibility?Sales would be my major responsibility, but I oversee almost everything to be sure we do the best possible jobs for our customers in a timely fashion. How did you get to where you are now?I started renting and selling heavy equipment back in 1985 for McIntosh Equipment of Ottawa, then I represented Holder of North America, a German municipal tractor company covering all of Canada and approximately 23 states. I was working with a dealer network, and then I started developing a liking to the rock breaking and drilling industry. In 1992, I helped develop and introduce a new Japanese hydraulic rock drill brand, called Furukawa, to our country for almost 20 years. In the summer of 2011, I took the opportunity to start my own distributorship, and Selix was born.

Instruction, Information, Supervision

Failure to take reasonable safety precautions and provide adequate training can result in hefty fines By Kirk A. Vilks, Fillmore Riley LLP In the Q4 2013 edition of Piling Canada, James Wishart wrote about the Ontario Court of Appeal decision in R. v. Metron Construction Corp. (Metron). In that case, the Ontario Court of Appeal handed out fines to corporate defendants for criminal negligence that were large enough to potentially bankrupt the companies. It was held that that the courts should not take companies' financial situation into account when determining fines for criminal negligence. More recently, Canadian courts have continued to follow this approach by awarding large fines without consideration of the financial implications for the companies In 2013, the Ontario Court of Justice convicted Sunrise Propane Energy Group Inc. for multiple regulatory offences under the Ontario Environmental Protection Act (EPA) and Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). The judgement - R. v. Sunrise Propane Energy, 2016 CarswellOnt 3399 - pertained to an incident that caused propane explosions in Toronto in 2008 that killed a young worker and caused a fire. There were a series of explosions that caused extensive damage to surrounding properties and injuries to neighbours. Some surrounding homes were left uninhabitable for over a year. Approximately 12,000 residents had to evacuate the area within a 1.6-kilometre radius. Local businesses were forced to close, and one nearby car dealership was completely destroyed. At the time of the explosion, there were two employees on site; one was able to escape with minor injuries, but the other was killed.

Dealing in Piles

Piling Broker bridging the need to buy and sell equipment By Jon Waldman Anyone who has been in the piling business for any length of time knows that costs for equipment can get fairly high. As a result, there are one of two ways that a company, especially a startup, can go - have a high capital investment at the beginning of a venture by buying equipment, or rental. Going the second route, thus, becomes the better option and this is where a company like Piling Broker steps in. Founded in 2015, Piling Broker, through its online portal (pilingbroker.com) and using social media applications like LinkedIn, has in its short time become a leader in providing quality new and used machinery to companies across North America and around the world. “So far on average, we have seven to eight listings monthly,” said Irena Zecevic, Piling Broker's marketing manager, adding that the number of pieces is growing quickly. “We try to list equipment from known sources/dealers or contractors owning the equipment and list equipment that is available for inspection. Each listing is reviewed by our staff and, if approved, then it is made active within one business day.”

One-Stop Safety Software Solution

How to manage a safe and efficient worksite By Deb Smith Safety is a core value for every construction project, woven into most construction companies' DNA. Yet carrying out a comprehensive safety plan can be a complex and time-consuming process. In response, CorePoint Solutions Inc. developed an innovative, easy-to-use and highly configurable safety software program that ensures compliance and convenience for companies of all sizes and employees at all levels. “Our company has been in business for 15 years,” said Lisa Heitrich, CEO and product manager at CorePoint. “It all started in B.C. when I was working with one of the top five global forestry companies.” To better handle safety, in 2003, Heitrich developed a solution for the forestry giant. With the new safety software's success, Heitrich received permission to develop a comprehensive solution to improve and better manage health and safety programs for other forestry companies and in other industries. e result was a suite of user-friendly and reliable occupational health and safety (OHS) management software.

New Home, Same Philosophy

Le Monde International is a new player on the Canadian piling scene By Jim Timlick New company, new country, same philosophy. Those six simple words tell you a great deal about Le Monde International Drilling Equipment, a Gatineau, Que.-based drilling, piling and geothermal engineering equipment distributor. Le Monde was formed by owner Goran Zivkovic and his father Branislav as a family-owned venture in 2012. In 2014, the company became a serious player on the national piling and drilling scene when it became the official Canadian distributor for IHC IQIP office Netherlands and MORI SRL of Italy. While the company is still relatively new, the principles behind it have a long history when it comes to heavy equipment sales and distributorship. Branislav Zivkovic was the founder of Le Monde Underground, which has distributed several big-name brands of horizontal drilling and excavation equipment in Eastern Europe for more than 30 years. Following the civil war in the former Yugoslavia, the Zivkovics moved to Canada in the late 1990s to start life anew. Several years later, Zivkovic decided to form his own company, this time with a focus on distributing vertical drilling and pile driving equipment to the Canadian foundation industry.

Morton Jagodich Incorporated

Diversification sees company through downturn of traditional market By Kim Beggar Morton Jagodich Incorporated (MJI), headquartered in Calgary, Alta., certainly faced a challenge when the oil and gas downturn began in 2014. Just a few years old at that time, the company relied heavily on the oil and gas industry for its livelihood. “A huge portion of our work was in that sector,” said Jason Jagodich, managing partner of the civil, structural and geotechnical engineering firm. The company had to refocus, and it did so quickly. The last couple of years have taken MJI to Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Korea, and into the public sector across Canada, in its efforts to diversify in terms of both geography and industry sector. This diversification and a focus on safety and innovation have allowed the firm to flourish in tough times. Company overviewIn addition to its Calgary head office, MJI has offices in Grande Prairie, Alta. and Huntsville, Ont. Jagodich, the company's geotechnical principal, is based in Alberta; Jon Morton, the civil engineering principal, works out of the Ontario office. With 40 employees, the company is a full-service civil, structural and geotechnical firm specializing in deep foundation design and testing, permitted to practice in nearly all provinces in Canada.

The Pile Driving Contractors Association

A driven pile is a tested pile By Heather Hudson If there's one thing Steve Hall is passionate about, it's the driven pile. He'd have to be. As executive director of the Pile Driving Contractors Association (PDCA), his calendar is like a “Where's Steve?” version of the “Where's Waldo?” cartoon. From PDCA headquarters in Orange Park, Fla., he regularly criss-crosses North America to represent the association at educational seminars, conferences and meetings that bring together the piling industry and the professions with which it intersects. PDCA wasn't always this prolific. In fact, its origin story involves a meeting of a handful of people at an airport hotel. “In 1995, there were a few forward-thinking, entrepreneurial-type individuals who believed in the benefits of representing the driven pile industry solely and independently without any conflicts from other foundations,” said Hall. Industry players and business owners quickly gravitated to the association that offered advocacy and a consistent voice in the industry, as well as educational programs and networking opportunities. While membership enjoyed a steady growth, things have really taken off in the last 10 years.

Crum Creek Viaduct Replacement

ECA provides innovative equipment solutions for Walsh Construction By Brian M. Fraley, Fraley AEC Solutions, LLC A BAUER BG 18 H rotary drilling rig sits wedged between an earthen embankment, a shotcrete-covered bridge abutment, a maze of rusty steel trestles and the underside of a historic railroad viaduct in Swarthmore, Pa. The rig, working in a low overhead configuration, was supported by a BAUER BG 20 H, both of which prime contractor Walsh Construction of Chicago rented from the nearby Aldan, Pa. office of Equipment Corporation of America (ECA).

Rising High

Prestigious condo project for deep foundations contractors inc. By Sarah B. Hood On Toronto's busy St. Clair Avenue, atop the steep climb of Bathurst Street, a remarkable new condominium building is remaking a gateway intersection in a developing neighbourhood that is as well known for its multicultural diversity as for its favourable situation overlooking the rest of the city. Appropriately named the Rise, the project was spearheaded by Reserve Properties Ltd., a family business that has been active in commercial and residential development across North America for over three decades.

The Concord

Doublestar Drilling was awarded the temporary shoring contract for the construction for the construction and excavation for Calgary's largest upscale condo project By Lisa Kopochinski When completed in 2018, Calgary's newest upscale condominium project - the Concord - will be one of the city's most luxurious living quarters. Situated downtown in the Eau Claire neighbourhood, construction on this 14-storey project, which began in April, will include two towers of condos and townhouses overlooking the south shore of the Bow River. With the first of the two towers expected to be completed in 30 to 36 months (and the second tower approximately six months later) Vancouver-based builder Concord Pacific has already sold 50 per cent of the first tower's units. This includes five penthouses ranging in price from $2.5 million to $7 million.

Let’s Talk About Safety

When leaving for work each morning, we often don't think about our safety. We tend to take for granted that we'll have a decent day and come home to our loved ones, ready to eat and rest and do it all again tomorrow.

Staying Safe

Best safety practices for deep foundation construction sites By Sarah B. Hood The piling industry is much safer than it once was. Dennis Bell, HSE manager for Northstar Energy Services Inc., recalls how different things used to be, even around the turn of the millennium. “Now, we have designated pile driving units and hydraulic hammers,”he said. “Riggers used to climb the leads, so you had fall issues. Now, if something happens, [the clients supply a] zoom boom platform; we don't climb leads anymore. It's nice to see that the industry has come to a higher level of safety.” But even with the advances, there are still concerns. “The piling construction industry continues to have one of the highest WSIB premium rates in industry [twelfth highest out of 155 rate groups in Ontario],” said Paul Belair, MBA, BASc, CRSP, CHSE, the director of health, safety and environment for Keller Canada. Among the common industry hazards, he lists musculoskeletal injuries, trips and falls, contact with mobile equipment and rigs, injuries from equipment contact with live utilities services and entanglement from rotating parts.