Augering Upward

When you have to get below ground, Jeffrey Machine is tops in tools By Kelly Gray When Tervita's Calgary office needed to ramp up their capability on a recent deep foundation job, they turned to Jeffrey Machine for expertise that made a difference. Based in Birmingham, Ala., Jeffrey Machine has become a world leader in drilling tools by working closely with customers such as Tervita, a major North American environmental, energy and construction service company. In this case, they were able to create a 6.1-meter belling tool that was double the diameter of anything the contractor had used in the past. It enabled Tervita to successfully execute the construction of the abnormally large bell pile efficiently and safely.

On the Waterfront

As part of the Halifax Shipyard modernization program, Irving Equipment is rebuilding the Pier 6 Wharf, where Canada's next generation of warships and arctic patrol vessels are slated to be built

Problem-Solving People

Crux Subsurface, Inc. takes an active role in innovation

Towering Above

Liebherr's various divisions breaking ground all over the world

Rock Solid

Crews handle variety of tough conditions on remote power line project

In Canada for 15 Years

A light year's worth of advancements By Vincent Jue and Stephen Wilson Soilmec brought the first European-style drilling rig to the Canadian underground construction market 15 years ago, in 1998. Today, there are around 325 Soilmec rigs in use across Canada. Some people might call us “pioneers,” but we simply consider ourselves to be the deliverers of the best available technology to our customers. We've introduced several new construction technologies to the Canadian market, such as continuous flight auger (CFA) for drilled shafts, cased secant piles (CSP) for diaphragm walls and other full-cased methods of drilling. When Soilmec entered the Canadian market in 1998, most drilling companies were still using old-style telescoping casing to hold open their holes. Today, using these innovative technologies, our customers have improved productivity and gained a competitive edge in bidding and building.

The TIP is Tops

Faster results, complete coverage, ease of testing and information on cage alignment are just some of the advantages of the new Thermal Integrity Profiler By Lisa Kopochinski Living up to its sophisticated name, the Thermal Integrity Profiler (TIP) is embodying a new, temperature-based technology for concrete foundation integrity testing. The latest development of Pile Dynamics, Inc. (PDI), in partnership with Foundation & Geotechnical Engingeering (FGE), the TIP offers a unique approach in that it uses measurements of the heat generated by curing cement to evaluate the integrity of cast-in-place concrete foundations. (Regions that are colder than expected are indicative of necks or inclusions - a cross-sectional area smaller than intended for the shaft. Regions that are warmer than anticipated indicate bulges - an excess of concrete in a particular location.) “The heat generated by curing concrete had never before been used to assess the quality and shape of cast-in-place concrete foundations,” explained Gina Beim, P.E., a senior consulting engineer and marketing director with PDI. “Measurements may be taken by a probe inserted into access tubes pre-installed in the shaft or by Thermal Wire® cables attached to the reinforcing cage.”

It’s Time to Act! Preventing Exposure to Carcinogens in the Workplace

The Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) published a quick and easy guide to cancer prevention in the workplace in October. The brochure, Are there carcinogens in your workplace? It's time to act!, is intended for OHS officers, employers and workers. The Canadian Cancer Society, which is dedicated to prevention, has welcomed its publication. Developing occupational cancer is a real risk that is often trivialized, as was too long the case with tobacco, partly due to the fact that it may take 10 to 40 years between exposure to a carcinogen and diagnosis of an illness. The brochure, based on the most up-to-date scientific knowledge available, helps identify carcinogens in the workplace, provides examples of preventive measures and best practices for controlling exposure, and proposes a model action plan for eliminating or reducing exposure.

Canada’s Jobs Minister: Canada Job Grant is the First Step in Addressing Canada’s Skills Mismatch

Jason Kenney spoke at 2013 Skills and Post-Secondary Education Summit hosted by Conference Board of Canada.

CenturyVallen Now Offering North America’s First “Green” Hard Hat

V-Gard® GREEN hard hat made from sugarcane reduces environmental impact CenturyVallen, a national supplier of safety and industrial MRO products and services, is excited to announce that it is now selling the world's first “green” protective hard hat manufactured from sugarcane.

Inventors from Pile Dynamics and the University of South Florida Receive International NOVA Award for Thermal integrity Profiler (TIP)

Industry News

Selix Equipment Inc. Commits to Improved Customer Service in Ontario

Selix Equipment Inc., the Sandvik Rock Drill dealer for Ontario and the distributor for Mc Drill Technology, makers of multipurpose construction drills and large piling drill rigs, would like to announce that John Cantin has joined the Selix team as territory sales manager for central, southern and south-western Ontario.

Junttan’s First Purpose-Built Piling Rig PM20 Reaches 30-Year Anniversary

Junttan's first ten piling rigs were built on excavators during the period 1979-1983. The excavator-based piling rig was and still is a compromise in many ways, but it was rather efficient compared to standards at the time. Compared to a purpose-built piling rig, the excavator-based rig had many operational restrictions in areas like pile handling, hydraulic output and stability, partly because of the dimensions of the machine and partly because of the basic structure. The transportation dimensions were quite large; the machine was tall and the tracks had to be wide to achieve adequate stability. To eliminate these difficulties, Junttan ended up building its first purpose-built fully hydraulic pile driving rig, PM20. The new rig had a telescopic leader with side inclination cylinders that made it more stable than ever to accomplish the most demanding piling jobs. The PM20 had a hydraulic system that was optimized for the hammer and produced enough energy to run all the required functions simultaneously. This meant maximized working efficiency, which was a huge upgrade to the excavator-based rig. The new rig had hydraulically extendable tracks that brought a new level of stability to working conditions and also reduced the transportation width significantly. Another factor that minimized the transportation dimensions was the structure of the upper carriage frame that was open from the middle. In addition to the telescopic leader, horizontal boom and a movable counterweight, the PM20 had pile arms that made pile handling easier and more efficient than ever. The purpose-built rig didn't need any other machines on the job; it could easily unload the piles, haul them and lift them securely up to the hammer with its telescopic leader and winches. As a final touch, the ergonomics in the cabin were tested with wooden and cardboard mockups to make it unprecedentedly strong to protect the driver in accident situations.

Women Building Futures and TFL Industrial Join Forces in Innovative New Welding Program

WBF, Alberta's premier organization for pre-trades training for women, is pleased to announce a new partnership with TFL Industrial.

Ritchie Bros. Sells More than CA$95 Million of Equipment in Two Days

October's Edmonton auction achieved new records for gross auction proceeds

Builder’s Risk Insurance

A financial safeguard for builders By Dean G. Giles, Fillmore Riley LLP Many construction projects proceed without incident. Unfortunately, experience shows that damage can occur during construction, leading to significant repair or replacement costs. Builder's risk insurance is specifically designed to indemnify against property loss to buildings and structures while they are under construction. In the leading case of Commonwealth Construction Company v. Imperial Oil Limited, the Supreme Court of Canada described the function of builder's risk insurance (also known as course of construction insurance) as follows:

Putting People First

From recruitment to leadership, human resources management will help your business

Tough Performer

Burnaby-based Traxxon Rock Drills has earned an excellent reputation for building tough and innovative equipment, and for selling and supporting quality products from other manufacturers By Kelly Gray When you build and support equipment for use in the wilds of British Columbia, you make it strong and you build in innovation and performance. This is what the founder of Traxxon, Mike Horvat, did in the early 1960s. Today, Traxxon has carried on this tradition with a full line of drilling equipment, components and accessories that are among the best in the industry. The early days saw the company solely focused on the coastal forest industry. This is when they converted WW2 Sherman army tanks into mobile drilling equipment called tank drills, allowing mobility in the rugged coastal mountain terrain. It's also where they came up with their innovative 360-degree positioner allowing drilling at virtually any angle. The tradition of building rugged and innovative equipment for Traxxon's expanding customer base carried on with Steve Cross taking over the business from Horvat in the 90s. Cross, who had started working with Horvat early in his career, was able to take the company to the next level of innovation with his team, designing an excavator mounted drill attachment - the TR-EX. Highly successful in Western Canada, the TR-EX has proven itself in both forestry and construction, and it has also been sold to customers around the world.

Rolling in the Deep

The Roll Form Group continues its success in North America