Optimizing Driven Pile Foundations

Design-build and remote PDA testing By John C. Ryan, Ph.D., P.Eng., Ryan Structural Engineers, LLC Sharpening the proverbial pencilIt's a familiar saying, and in an engineering office it may sound like this: “Four per cent overstress ... maybe I can sharpen the pencil and make it work.” Despite the fact that a given balance between load and resistance cannot be “made to work,” there is some insight that this euphemism provides. In reality, deeper understanding of a problem is being sought with the intent of removing uncertainty. As engineers, we are inherently and appropriately risk averse. If we have not personally proven or maintained control of an idea from inception to completion, we become skeptical of it. In practice, this tends result in unnecessary conservatism, particularly where often-disconnected design professionals have tangential or overlapping responsibility. Such is the case with driven piles. Much of the excessive conservatism that persists in the driven pile industry can be reduced significantly through a design method that treats the pile foundation as a performance specified component. Utilizing bid solicitations, which include pile design criteria and subsurface reports, foundation contractors, along with a driven-pile specialty engineer, can provide design-build solutions with pricing and schedule to be evaluated for best value. Further, by incorporating remote dynamic pile testing within the scope of the design-build team, the most optimized foundation and installation schedule can be achieved. If the pile specialty engineer and contractor team are engaged from concept through design and certification, the pencil is always sharp with respect to foundation design.

Strength in Numbers

SPL Consultants Limited offers a wealth of engineering expertise under one roof By Kelly Gray Strength in numbers is behind the growth of Toronto-based SPL Consultants Limited (SPL), a full-service, multidisciplinary ground engineering firm with offices in seven locations (Toronto, Vaughan, Cambridge, Ottawa, Markham, Barrie and Collingwood) across Ontario. The company's wide-ranging specialties have allowed it to grow in five years from a group of five employees to a cohort that offers more than 250 highly experienced engineers, environmental scientists, hydrogeologists, technologists, biologists and support personnel. Since opening in 2009, SPL's capabilities have had them working on ten of the top 100 jobs in the country as cited by Renew, and had industry watchdog Ernst & Young nominate them for Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year. Behind their success is a willingness to be market sensitive. “We have grown thanks to our quality of service, our ability to bring value into the engineering model and establish fair pricing,” said SPL Consultants principal, Fanyu Zhu, Ph.D., P.Eng., who adds that they are competitive without sacrificing quality. “We saw from the outset that there was a business opportunity that could be maximized if we could attract the people with the right skill sets and talent. I believe we have done just this.”

Family Connection

Prairie piling company Cam-Arrow Drilling demonstrates the benefits of generational companies

It’s Not a Hammer

Giken America Corporation wants to standardize pile driving with its press-in piling methodology By Ian Vaz, Giken America Corporation The Giken America Corporation is a subsidiary of its parent company, Giken Ltd., with its headquarters located in Kochi, Japan. Giken was founded in 1978 from technology developed three years prior by the current president, Mr. Akio Kitamura, who collaborated with a local inventor known as the “Thomas Edison” of the area. Giken's press-in piling technology may have never been invented without the shutting down of a project in Kochi due to noise complaints led by a local sushi chef, which subsequently influenced Kitamura to develop this “outside the box” concept. With the contribution of over 300 employees globally, Giken's minimal noise and vibration-free pile driving technology has developed into other various technologies over the company's nearly 40-year history. The press-in piling market has also expanded recently throughout Asia, Europe and especially in North America and South America.

Ground Control

Keller Foundations' role in Toronto's new underground transformer station

Up in the Clouds

Constructing the Glacier Skywalk

Women in Heavy Construction

The tide is turning for women seeking employment in the construction industry

Helping Build Bridges to Prosperity

Footbridges over otherwise impassable rivers give isolated communities access to health care, education and markets

Top Growing Occupations and Provinces for the Construction Industry

Growth in construction sector is a good indicator of a strengthening economy Supplied by CareerBuilder Canada and Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. Canada's construction industry has seen steady growth over the last several years, and new data suggests the expansion will continue throughout 2014. According to CareerBuilder Canada and Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. (EMSI), employment in the construction industry has grown by 12 per cent from 2011 to 2014, adding over 102,000 jobs, outpacing four per cent growth for all jobs. “The construction industry is often a reliable indicator of an economy's strength, and right now we're seeing very encouraging growth,” said Mark Bania, director at CareerBuilder Canada. “Not only has the construction industry added a wide variety of occupations over the past few years, but this growth has stretched across the entire country.” In order to help workers determine where the opportunities lie within this growing industry, CareerBuilder and EMSI put together a list of the fastest-growing construction occupations. Among occupations that are expected to see the greatest percentage increases in 2014 are: 1) Administrative officers - Oversee and implement administrative procedures, establish work priorities and co-ordinate the acquisition of administrative services such as office space, supplies and security services.· Change in construction employment (2013-2014) - 5.1 per cent · Median hourly earnings - $21.63 2) Contractors and supervisors, heavy construction equipment crews - Includes excavating, grading, paving, drilling and blasting contractors who own and operate their own business and contractors who supervise crane operators, drillers and blasters, heavy equipment operators, longshore workers, material handlers, public works maintenance equipment operators, railway track maintenance workers and water well drillers.· Change in construction employment (2013-2014) - 4.4 per cent · Median hourly earnings - $29.85

Meet a Piling Professional

Tony Evangelista, Northstar Describe your current job. Tony Evangelista: My primary role is the senior manager - business development at Northstar; however, I'm also heavily involved with estimating projects and working with our project managers and construction teams in the execution of awarded jobs. What are your areas of responsibility? TE: Primarily and from a global perspective it would be client relations, and helping to develop Northstar as a business. On a day-to-day basis, I'm involved with bidding, estimating, submissions and project execution. How did you get to where you are now? TE: Eight years ago, a friend that I was working with as a consultant asked if I'd be interested in working with a company that installed piles. My response was, “Piles of what?” I had no background or understanding of what I may be getting into. A lunch was set up with the president of the company and we hit it off. At the end of lunch, I asked him to drive me home, which elicited a strange look, but he agreed. When we arrived he realized why I'd made this request; a piling company was working across the street driving H-piles for a retaining wall. We got out and spent a good amount of time watching them and I got my first lesson in what we do. I've never looked back.

Pay-when-Paid Clauses

Be sure you know what you're getting, and when By James C. Wishart, Fillmore Riley LLP For better or worse, the readers of Piling Canada are likely familiar with pay-when-paid clauses. Usually found in subcontracts between general contractors and subcontractors or suppliers, pay-when-paid clauses are intended to postpone the general contractor's obligation to pay its subcontractors or suppliers until the general contractor has been paid by the owner for the relevant work. Even some industry standard contract documents, such as the CCA 1 - 2008 (Stipulated Price Subcontract), include pay-when-paid clauses. The question that we most frequently get about pay-when-paid clauses is: what happens if the owner doesn't pay the general contractor - does the subcontractor or supplier still have a right to be paid for its work or has it waived that right by accepting the pay-when-paid clause? In A&B Mechanical Ltd. v. Canotech Consultants Ltd. et al, 2013 MBQB 287, the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench considered a pay-when-paid clause and answered that question.

One for Me; One for You

Learning to delegate is necessary for good management By Barbara J. Bowes, Legacy Bowes Group Think about it: are you becoming concerned there isn't enough time to recover as you jump from one crisis to the next? Is your email inbox always full? Are you struggling to meet deadlines? Is your staff morale beginning to slip? Is your stress level inching upward and causing you to become edgy and anxious? If these issues and sleepless nights are wearing you down, then I can safely say that you are probably taking on too many tasks yourself. You are probably not as skilled as you need to be at delegating to your team members. Maybe the issue is that you don't know how to delegate or are afraid to delegate. Delegation is a skill that is absolutely necessary for good management. It means getting things done through other people. It is all about planning, time management, professional development and the empowerment of your employees.

Small and Mighty

Tricky situations can call for smaller rigs - Meet the Junttan PM16 By Jim Chliboyko It's not necessarily the largest piece of equipment available for the job that is always the best or most appropriate. Occasionally, smaller solutions can be equally or better suited. There are factors other than size and power involved with choosing appropriate equipment, such as portability, maneuverability, ease of use and even weight allowances on roads. In the case of pile drivers, sometimes the trickier the situation the job presents, the smaller the rig may be necessary. Many have turned to the Finnish pile driver manufacturer Junttan and their PM16 model, a 37,000-kilogram machine, to get their jobs done. (The next machine in the Junttan lineup, the PMx20, is significantly larger, listed on the Junttan website as 55,000 kilograms.) “[The PM16] has been a really good seller for us,” said Bruce Patterson of Canadian Pile Driving Equipment. “It's a little machine with a big heart. It's capable of driving upwards of 16 meters of pile length. Basically, the PM16 is the smallest, lightest purpose-built piling rig that Junttan makes. It's big in Alberta at places like oil sands sites and pipeline facilities.”

Solid Foundation

Pinnacle Drilling Products excels as an industry “total solutions” provider By Lisa Gordon When Allan Zdunich founded Pinnacle Drilling Products back in 2007, the Vancouver, B.C.-based company supplied drilling tools and products to the oil and gas, mining, construction, geothermal and waterwell industries. Its first shop was a mere 2,000 square feet, and it was home to just four employees. But Zdunich - a drilling industry veteran who is marking 50 years in the field this year - was clearly onto a good thing. It took only eight years for Pinnacle to grow into a new facility in Burnaby, one that is five times bigger than its original shop. In 2011, a company restructuring initiative brought in more capital to fund targeted growth.

Doing It All

Ruskin Construction Ltd. reaches its 25th anniversary with more plans for growth in the coming years

Winning Formula

Formula Contractors Ltd. gains ground in a broad range of projects thanks to diverse capabilities

Shoring Up High-Rise Construction

Matcon Canada and Soilmec NA work on the Rogers Arena high-rise

Challenge Accepted

Bermingham takes on a dynamic project to show what they can do By Kelly Gray One of Canada's oldest foundation specialists is helping Parks Canada turn the page on troubles with its historic Trent Severn Waterway. When the Canadian federal government needed to repair Dam #37 at Bolsover near Lake Simcoe, they turned to Bermingham Foundation Solutions for the initial stages that would allow for the demolition of the dam and reconstruction. Working with general contractor Metric Contracting, shoring designer Isherwood Geostructural Engineers, contract administrator EXP and Public Works Canada, Bermingham crews would have to dewater the area immediately adjacent to the existing lock and dam and pro- vide a temporary diversion. This is all in a day's work for a company that has been putting Canada on solid ground since 1897. The Trent Severn Waterway is a hard-won piece of Canadian history with politicians and business interests fighting it out section by section. Joining Lake Huron with Lake Ontario, the 386-kilometre canal system was started in the early part of the 19th century and slowly completed over 100 years, at which time it was quickly made redundant by the completion of the larger Welland Canal. Today, the system is operated by Parks Canada as a tourist destination that brings boat traffic to cottage country through the locks between May and October. Last year, there was close to 100,000 lock operations. [VIEW PHOTO GALLERY]

Introducing the PDA-8G

Pile Dynamics completely revamps its Pile Driving Analyzer® system