project HIGHLIGHTS 06/07 - Somerset Engineeringsomerseteng.com/.../Kicking-Horse...Project-Highlights-Jul-Aug-07.pdf · This state-of-the-art ofﬁ ce facility provides ... project

I nnovation thanks all the companies and individuals who made a submission to our annual call for project photographs. The response this year was overwhelming. We hope

you enjoy this showcase of BC-based engineering and geoscience achievements around the world over the past year.

projectHIGHLIGHTS

06/07

2 6 J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 0 7 I N N O V A T I O N

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NK’MIP DESERT CULTURAL CENTREThe Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre is a celebration by the Osoyoos Indian Band of its historic culture. The Centre resides in the Okanagan desert—one of the most fragile environments in Canada—and features North America’s largest rammed earth wall at 80 m long and 5.5 m high. The wall is formed of 150 – 200 mm high lifts inside 600 mm wide forms. At the top of the wall and above the entry and windows, puddled earth coloured concrete was used as a bond beam. Local soils were employed with the addition of concrete colourants. The wall is not sealed and is left to form the outer crust as it cures. Other key design features include the building siting and orientation. Embed-ding the east building face in the hillside helps to moderate the interior temperature, while the heavy mass of the building’s concrete and earth walls remove heat during the day and return it at night. To regulate the temperature more specifi cally, a radiant heating and cooling system was installed in the ceiling slabs. Combined design features reduce energy consumption by up to 50% compared to a typical building in this arid climate.

Owner: Osoyoos Indian Band. Architect: Hotson Bakker Bonniface Architects. Mechanical: Cobalt Engineering. Structural: Equilibrium Consulting. Photos: Nic Lehoux.

projectHIGHLIGHTS

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In early 2005, Pine River near Chetwynd, BC, suddenly mean-dered across its fl ood plain and exposed two buried gas pipes. Due to problematic soil conditions, the owner, Duke Energy, opted to construct a bridge to carry the pipes rather than replac-ing them deeper below ground. Buckland & Taylor recommended a 380 m long modular three-chord truss bridge as the solution and was chosen to design it. The design utilized readily avail-able material, was tolerant of soil conditions, and was simple to fabricate and quick to erect. The bridge was completed two weeks ahead of schedule, thanks to a dedicated effort by all the professionals involved. The project received the CISC 2006 Steel Engineering Design Award.

Owner: Duke Energy (John Cripps PEng, Bernd Schalke PEng). Fabricator: Solid Rock Steel Fabricating (Peter Steunenberg, Henny Mooy PEng). Erection & Foundation: Ruskin Construc-tion (Renton Dooley). Design: Buckland & Taylor (Peter Buckland PEng, Peter Taylor PEng, Dan Yang PEng, David Queen PEng, and Steve Zhu PEng). Geotechnical: AMEC Earth & Environmen-tal (Drum Cavers PEng/PGeo, Catharine Brown PEng/PGeo, Peter Bullock EIT/GIT). River Engineering: BC Rivers Consulting (Bob Costerton PEng).

PINE RIVER CROSSING

Victoria Shipyards delivered the fi rst of eight state-of-the-art Training Vessels, the PCT 55 Orca, to the Department of National Defence at CFB Esquimalt in November 2006. The bare hullform of the 33 m vessel was based on a design licensed from Tenix Defence Marine Division in Australia. The original dimensions were stretched by 5%. The superstruc-ture and interior, along with all equipment, were completely reconfi gured to meet Canadian naval requirements. Signifi cant changes include the addition of a large bridge with excellent

all around visibility, installation of complete secondary com-mand and navigation stations, and the fi tting of an audiovisual equipped training room with seating and desks for 16. The ves-sel has a crew of four and accommodates 16 trainees with four spare bunks. Powered by two 2500 HP Caterpillar engines, the vessel cruises at 18 kt at 80% power demand.

Professionals involved: Bill van Dinther PEng (Project Manager), Lyle Gustafson PEng.

PCT 55 ORCA TRAINING VESSEL


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ROAD SAFETY AUDITS FOR TRIBAL GOVERNMENTSOpus Hamilton Consultants were retained by the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to conduct a series of Road Safety Audits (RSA) for Tribal Governments. This was the fi rst time that RSAs had been conducted on tribal lands and the Opus Hamilton team worked closely with the Navajo, Santa Clara, Jemez, and Standing Rock tribal governments. The tribal lands were located in North and South Dakota, New Mexico, and Arizona. The RSAs included the identifi cation of collision risks and suitable, cost-effective safety countermea-sures, and involved signifi cant on-site work. The RSA results were subsequently summarized into a case studies report for the FHWA.

Professionals Involved: Margaret Gibbs PEng, Sany Zein PEng, Jeff Bagdade PE.

TELUS ATRIUMTelus Atrium is a fully glazed feature space, 26 m in height, between two adjacent existing buildings to replace a demolished building section in downtown Vancouver. Lightweight, elegant structural steels are used throughout the space, including 3D roof trusses, suspended curtain wall support, wall trusses with elliptical column chords and a stair cantilevered from a single column. Reid Jones Christoffersen’s expertise in long span structural support and curtain wall technology were combined to realize the architectural vision of this dynamic public space with dramatic visual appeal.

Owner: Telus. Architects: Musson Cattell Mackey Partner-ship, Busby Perkins + Will. Structural and Building Envelope: Read Jones Christoffersen. Photo: Michael Sherman.

The Adriatic LNG terminal will be the world’s fi rst offshore liquefi ed natural gas receiving and re-gasifi cation terminal. The facility’s two 125,000 m3 LNG storage tanks, based on proprietary ExxonMo-bil technology, are also the fi rst of their kind. The prismatic tanks are constructed from stiffened panels of 9% nickel steel with an internal bracing system for seismic restraint. Having participated in the development of the tank technology, Aker Yards Marine’s Vancouver offi ce performed initial and detail design of the tank structure, including extensive strength, fatigue, and transportation

assessment using fi nite element analysis. Aker Yards Marine also provided on-site support during tank fabrication at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea. The tanks were shipped in sections to Spain for mating, insertion into the terminal’s concrete gravity base struc-ture, and testing. Owned by affi liates of Qatar Petroleum, Exxon-Mobil, and Edison SpA, the completed terminal will be installed 30 km offshore Porto Levante, Italy in 2008.

OFFSHORE LNG TERMINAL


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NARAMATA WATER SUPPLY IMPROVEMENTSIn March 2007, the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen celebrated World Water Day with the offi cial opening of the Town of Naramata’s Water Supply Improvements. The upgraded water supply system provides the community with improved water quality as well as domestic and irrigation water to meet their water demands. Engineering consultant, Associated Engi-neering developed an innovative design involving upgrading an existing lake intake and pump station to deliver the water supply through a 2 km raw water supply pipeline to a new ultraviolet water treatment facility and high lift pump station adjacent to an existing treated water reservoir. In addition to ultraviolet primary disinfection, the water treatment process also includes chlorine secondary disinfection using sodium hypochlorite generation technology.

DIGITAL CORDLESSVOIP PHONEBruce Bernard PEng, Chief Technology Offi cer of Ascalade Communications, led the design and development of the fi rst VoIP phone that does not require a computer. The Richmond-based company partnered with Skype to embed their Internet calling application directly into the base of the cordless phone. Ascalade’s industrial design and mechanical engineering teams created three versions of the embedded phone based on cus-tomer specifi c brand restrictions for Europe and North America. Supporting 15 language options with a range of 300 m (open fi eld) or 50 m indoors, the phone features a 128 x 128 pixel, 65,000 CSTN LCD screen with white LED backlight, multi-hand-set options, instant access to Skype contact lists, and an option to make regular phone calls and VoIP calls, all without the need for a computer.

ELECTRONIC ARTS HQPhase 2 and 3 of the Electronic Arts (Canada) headquarters in Burnaby, which is targeting LEED Silver certifi cation, were recently completed. This state-of-the-art offi ce facility provides functional yet highly inspirational work space. Phase 1 and 2 were designed following the same fundamental structural prin-cipals, with the central hub and street serving as the structural backbone of the building. Five four-storey structural steel der-ricks act as visually open, yet strong seismic braces. A full-size soccer fi eld sits atop a three-storey parking garage built with

cast-in-place concrete beams and hollowcore slabs. This com-plex includes offi ces, theatres, food services, audio and video studios and the world’s largest motion capture studio.

Client: Electronic Arts. Architect: Musson Cattell Mackey Part-nership. Structural Engineers: Glotman Simpson. Mechani-cal Engineers: Cobalt Engineering. Electrical Engineers: Keen Engineering. Geotechnical Engineers: Geopacifi c Consultants, Levelton Consultants.


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RUSKIN DAM SEISMIC ASSESSMENTHatch Energy is assisting BC Hydro on a series of projects to review and potentially improve the seismic withstand capabilities of Ruskin Dam (constructed in 1930). The 58 m high concrete gravity dam is situated in a narrow valley near Mission, BC. Initial study involved review of previous seismic assessments, limited analyses and reviews of dam characteristics, and recommenda-tions for further analyses to assess seismic upgrading require-ments. Detailed fi nite element modelling is now underway to assess dam response to a large seismic event. Hatch Energy

is also designing local anchorage to improve the stability of the upper part of the dam.

Hatch Energy: David Cronin PEng, David Daw PEng (project man-agers), John McClung PEng (Project Engineer), Seyed Pishvaei PEng (Civil/Structural Design), Geoff Rigby PEng (Estimating), Peter Friz PGeo (Geological) and Steve Rigbey PEng (Geotechni-cal). BC Hydro: Robert Fornasier PEng (Project Manager), Ken Lum PEng, Tim Little PEng, Ivan Ji PEng.

SUNSET COMMUNITY CENTREThe Vancouver Parks Board’s new Sunset Community Centre was designed by Bing Thom Architects with structural engineer-ing services provided by Fast + Epp Structural Engineers. Stan-tec Consulting provided mechanical and electrical engineering services to the project. The building features concrete tilt-up wall construction including a 24.88 m spandrel panel, the larg-est spandrel panel installed in North America. The roof curvature was achieved through the use of traditional, straight joists fi tted with custom, adjustable steel connectors attached to the top

chord of each joist. The building’s energy conservation measures include a ground source heat pump system for heating and cool-ing, condensing gas boilers for supplementary heat, and high effi ciency lighting. These measures contribute to energy savings that will reduce the facility’s annual utility bills by over 60%. Also, it is anticipated that the building’s sustainable design features will earn the facility a LEED Gold rating.

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projectHIGHLIGHTS

06/07TERRAIN STABILITY MAPPINGWith Forest Investment Account (FIA) funding, Polar Geoscience (Polly Uunila PGeo) was retained by Tolko Industries, Okanagan Region Woodlands in 2006 to conduct a terrain stability mapping project of 28,000 ha of the headwaters of the Shuswap River near Vernon, BC. The objective of the work was to document the sur-fi cial geology, active geomorphic processes, and terrain stabil-ity to support forest development planning. This information is

paramount in developing strategies to minimize risks to watershed values associated with future road construction and harvesting. While consistent with relevant provincial standards, a customized approach to the project was adopted, which included aerial photo interpretation, helicopter reconnaissance, and detailed ground inspections.

SAWFISH UNDERWATER HARVESTERTriton Logging’s Sawfi sh Underwater Harvester was designed to take advantage of the 300 million preserved trees standing in dam reservoirs worldwide. Operating remotely and using its pat-ented airbag system, the Sawfi sh can cut and surface hundreds of trees per day. The team at Triton, lead by Norman Keevil PEng and Stan Worsley PEng, designed and built the second genera-tion Sawfi sh with increased power, maneuverability and airbag capacity. Used throughout the summer of 2006 at Ootsa Lake and near Powell River, the Sawfi sh is the world’s only deepwater harvesting machine, capable of reaching trees in the deepest of reservoirs. Under contract to reservoir managers and in partner-ship with local governments, Sawfi sh units will also be deployed to international waters in 2007 to recover high-value, environmen-tally friendly timber to satisfy the growing demand for certifi ed wood products.

Professionals Involved: Stan Worsley PEng, Jason Williams PEng, Scott Borstad EIT, Norman Keevil PEng.

GEOTEXTILE REINFORCED STREAM CROSSINGPipe culverts on streams typically interrupt the natural bed load sediment transport within stream channel. Weyerhaeuser Canada was able to remove one of these barriers to fi sh passage and sedi-ment on Wabash Creek. The replacement structure consisted of a 4.3 m span, 10.6 m long reinforced Terraspan soil arch. One of the benefi ts of the reinforced soil arch is that the steel arch form, used in the construction of the structure, does not utilize a footing.

The supply and construction costs were signifi cantly less than for a conventional soil-steel arch.

Operators: Weyerhaeuser Canada. Design: Terratech Consulting. Hydrology and Environmental Monitoring: Dobson Engineering. Landmark Forest Management. Excavation Contractor: G & L Cat-works. Materials Supplier: Armtec.


ELECTRICAL POWER AND SERVO SYSTEM

In the summer of 2006, Hedgehog Technologies (Michael Wrinch PEng) designed and installed an electrical power and servo system for a large, high-speed industrial plotter. This design allowed the Vancouver-based manufacturing client to increase production by 10 times. This gain came through a custom 50 kVA, four head double-synchronously operated confi guration that gives higher capacity as well as increased speed through the use of x-y head ultra-light, brushless DC servos. Special design considerations were made to ensure functional safety for the production crew under all operat-ing conditions; this is a particular challenge when all four heads are simultaneously plotting. The installation has received full electrical certifi cation as of early 2007.

Located at the fi ve-leg intersection of 216 Street, 48 Avenue and Old Yale Road in the Murrayville community of Langley, BC, McEl-hanney Consulting Services completed the design and contract administration of the Murray’s Corners roundabout for the Town-ship of Langley in September 2006. The intersection is unique in geometry and rich in historical importance. The roundabout was designed to enhance pedestrian and road-user safety at this busy

intersection. This was achieved through entry defl ection where the geometry did not impact most of the historical properties. Deco-rative lighting poles, power pole relocation and landscape design were included to incorporate the roundabout into its surroundings. To accommodate the roundabout, the heritage Bishop House in the southwest quadrant of the intersection was relocated to improve the geometric design.

MURRAY’S CORNERS ROUNDABOUT

In order to provide future access from Highway 99 and increase capacity, the deteriorated 24th Avenue underpass in South Surrey was demolished and reconstructed as a fi ve-lane structure with provision for future highway on/off ramps. The new structure is a two-span, 46 m long precast box girder bridge with abutments sup-ported on mechanically stabilized earth retaining wall approaches. Challenges included construction of the project over live traffi c with

minimal lane closures for demolition and girder erection.

Client/Owner: FirstPro for City of Surrey & Ministry of Transportation. Bridge Design: ND LEA Consultants. Civil: Aplin & Martin. Project Managers: Wedler Engineering. Geotechnical: Thurber Engineering. Contractor: Neelco Construction. Wall Designer/Supplier: Reinforced Earth Company.

24TH AVENUE UNDERPASS REPLACEMENT

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MULTIVARIABLE ADVANCED PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEMDomtar has completed the installation and commissioning of a Multivariable Advanced Process Control system for the Rotary Lime Kiln in their Kamloops Pulp Mill. Designed by Daniel Cheung PEng of Domtar and engineers at NORPAC Controls, the control system maintains a stable temperature profi le across the kiln while minimizing the kiln’s natural gas consumption. Within the lime kiln, heat from an open-fl ame natural gas burner provides the energy for a chemical reaction that converts calcium carbon-ate into calcium oxide (lime). The lime is then used to regenerate cooking liquors for the pulp mill. The lime kiln is the single largest fossil fuel consumer in the pulp mill. With its ability to reduce nat-ural gas consumption in the kiln by 99,000 GJ/y, the new control system will save Domtar approximately $789,000 in fuel costs.

Nearing completion, this phase of the development of False Creek by Concord Pacifi c consists of two levels of underground parking below a 144,725 ft2 Costco Warehouse outlet. Above Costco’s fi rst urban location are two additional levels of park-ing for the occupants of the 900 residential units and the town-houses. The residential units are in four high-rise towers ranging from 23 to 32 storeys, incorporating 710,000 ft2 of living space and amenities. A new public green space park sits atop parking facilities for the adjacent Beatty Street Drill Hall.

Owner: Concord Pacifi c Group. Architect: James K M Cheng Architects and IBI-HB Architects. Structural: Jones Kwong Kishi Consulting Engineers. Mechanical: Yoneda & Associates.Electrical: Nemetz & Associates. Geotech: Thurber Engineering.

SPECTRUM

Completed in August 2006, the Lorne Davies Gymnasium and Fitness Centre was designed to sensitively complement the prevailing architecture of Simon Fraser University. On a campus predominantly constructed in concrete, Fast + Epp in collabo-ration with CEI Architecture explored new building shapes and materials in the design of this new 30,000 ft² structure. The build-ing features a curved roof with unique composite steel-glulam trusses spanning 135 ft. The gymnasium and fi tness center also showcase architecturally expressive concrete A-frames, resulting

in an effi cient use of area and materials. Together with exposed precast concrete panels and columns, these concrete elements complement the existing gymnasium aesthetics as well as the overall architecture of the university campus.

Client: Simon Fraser University. Architect: CEI Architecture. Structural: Fast + Epp. General Contractor: Dominion Fairmile Construction. Mechanical: Cobalt Engineering. Electrical: BLC Engineering.

LORNE DAVIES GYMNASIUM


CERRO VERDE PRIMARY SULFIDE PROJECT

Fluor’s Vancouver offi ce provided engineering, procurement, and construction management services for development of a 108,000 tpd copper sulfi de concentrator for Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde SAA (SMCV) in Arequipa, Peru. The concentrator project is an expansion of SMCV’s existing copper heap leach and solvent extraction/electrowinning operation. The new concentra-tor will have a mine life of over 30 years, and will extend the leach operation life by at least 8 years. Fluor’s scope included all process facilities, expansion of existing utilities and addition of ancillary facilities. The process involved four-stage comminution, including primary and secondary crushing, followed by high pressure grind-ing roll (HPGR) crushing and single stage ball milling. The HPGR technology is a fi rst for major installations in the base metal mining industry. Copper recovery is achieved through multi-stage fl ota-tion with stirred mill regrinding of middling products. By-product molybdenum is separated from the copper in a conventional multi-stage moly fl otation circuit.

Client: Freeport-McMoran Copper and Gold.

The new 2,100 m2 College of the Rockies Trades Building in Cran-brook has seven bays for both auto and heavy duty mechanics, a maintenance garage, computer lab and classrooms. It also includes facilities for tracked vehicles, a 5 t overhead bridge crane, and is designed for a future 500 m2 addition. Exposed structural framing includes tapered HSS trusses with exposed glulam beams and columns. This $4.6 million state-of-the-art facility is one of two

new buildings on the campus.

Owner: College of the Rockies. Structural: Pomeroy Consulting Engineers. Architect: Killick Metz Bowen Rose Architects. Mechan-ical and Electrical: MCW Consultants. Civil and Geotechnical: Arm-strong and Nelson Engineering. Contractors: Cormode & Dickson Construction.

COLLEGE OF THE ROCKIES TRADES BUILDING

COMPUTER TO PLATE UPGRADEPacifi c Newspaper Group is the publisher of the Vancouver Sun and The Province newspapers. In November of 2006 the company committed to upgrading its pre-press operation by implement-ing a computer to plate project. The computer to plate upgrade would reduce one step in the plate-making process by removing the negative creating stage. The time saved by removing this step would grant a more generous deadline for editorial submissions. In

addition, the new process would have a positive impact on print quality. The most challenging part of this project was implement-ing the upgrade with no degradation to Pacifi c Newspaper Group’s commitment to delivery of its publications on time to its customers.

Owner: Pacifi c Newspaper Group. Project Manager: Payam Far-ahbakhsh PEng.

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Constructed in 1898 (with additions completed in 1914 and 1915), the Parliament Building is perhaps the most recognizable building in BC. As part of a project team, Levelton conducted an assessment of the current and projected condition of the building envelope of all buildings in the Legislative Precinct: the Parliament Building, the Menzies Street Armoury, and two smaller buildings also on the property. A multi-year asset man-agement and renewal plan resulted from that study, with the fi rst year of renewal projects just completed. The recent renewal work comprises seismic and building envelope upgrades to the main

Parliament block, incorporating modern technology while retain-ing the heritage character of this distinguished building.

Owner: Province of British Columbia. Architect: Zeidler Partner-ship. Envelope Consultant: Levelton Consultants. Structural: Peterson Galloway. Mechanical: Stantec Engineering. Electrical: Robert Freundlich & Associates, Applied Engineering Solutions. Heritage: Goldsmith Borgal & Company. Fire and Life Safety: CFT Engineering. Materials: G Ovstaas & Associates. Costing: Thorn-ley BKG Consultants.

PARLIAMENT BUILDING ASSESSMENT

STOLTZ BLUFFS STABILIZATIONIn the summer of 2006, Kerr Wood Leidal designed and con-structed river works along the Cowichan River, adjacent to Stoltz Bluffs. The bluffs were contributing signifi cant volumes of fi ne sediment to the river, smothering fi sh-spawning gravels in the lower reaches of the river. The channel stabilization works are intended to stop the river from undercutting the bluff, and also to catch fi ne material delivered to the base of the slope from upslope failures. The terrace and berm were protected with a combination of low bendway weirs, a riprap stone toe, soil wraps and brush

layers. As a result, approximately 7,000 m3 of silt was kept out of the river this past winter alone.

Client: BC Conservation Foundation, Pacifi c Salmon Commis-sion, BC Living Rivers Trust Fund, Catalyst Paper and BC Ministry of Highways. River Engineering: Kerr Wood Leidal (Dave Murray PEng, Stefan Joyce PEng). Habitat Biology and Environmental Monitoring: LGL (Marc Gaboury RP Bio). Geotechnical: Trow Associates. Contractor: Johel Bros, KMC.


Derek Oil & Gas Corporation (Doug Symonds PGeo, General Man-ager), a TSX Venture Exchange listed public company, is actively producing and developing its 8,000 acre LAK Ranch oil project in northeastern Wyoming, through its US subsidiary, Derek Resources. This project is located on the eastern margin of the Powder River Basin, historically an important hydrocarbon area. Current activity

is centered around a 12-well development program (four injector and eight producer wells), which will use thermal methods (steam injection) to recover oil from the Newcastle Sandstone, at depths of approximately 800 to 1,100 ft.

NEWCASTLE SANDSTONE OIL RECOVERY

TRAIN CONTROL AND MONITORING SYSTEM

Quester Tangent, in partnership with Bombardier Transporta-tion, has taken Train Control and Monitoring Systems (TCMS) to a whole new level on the New Jersey Transit Multi-Level Commuter trains. Incorporating leading-edge technologies and highly opti-mized product packaging solutions, Quester Tangent designed a scalable, modular, and highly reliable monitoring and diagnostic system for rail transit vehicles. Initial production units entered rev-enue service in December of 2006, and New Jersey Transit has already doubled their original order of the popular new vehicle. TCMS features include train system monitoring, fault logging with removable memory, multiple vehicle network interfaces, and other specialized circuitry. The system includes dual-video out-put displays, train-to-wayside communication interfaces (WLAN and cellular), and GPS. The TCMS incorporates technologies that have been tested and verifi ed over a fi ve-year period, working in partnership with our rail transit customers.

Hardware: David Gregson PEng. Software: Jim Kightley PEng.

Gartner Lee has completed a greenfi eld landfi ll siting and detailed design of a proposed new national engineered waste management facility for the country of Brunei, Darussalam. The siting and design process has taken over two years and has involved professional staff from Gartner Lee offi ces in Vancouver, Toronto, and White-horse, as well as local staff in Brunei. The nation-wide assess-ment followed a systematic process in siting and design, to ensure

professional standards of care and scientifi cally based principles were followed. This will be the fi rst engineered sanitary landfi ll in Brunei, Darussalam.

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

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06/07The original Asahal Lake Dam, built in 1961, failed due to the con-struction of a beaver dam within the concrete spillway. In August 2006, a new dam was reconstructed near the original dam loca-tion. The new 1,700 m3 earth dam includes a low-level pipe outlet system near the east bank, a concrete overfl ow spillway system near the west bank to release the fl ood water downstream of the dam safely. The dam structure will provide storage of 60 acre-feet

of water for use by the Williams Lake Indian Band as an irriga-tion source for a golf course to be constructed downstream of the dam site.

Client: Williams Lake Indian Band. Civil Design/Management: TRUE Consulting Group. Hydrology/Dam Break Analysis: Golder Associates. Contractor: 153 Mile Contracting.

ASAHAL LAKE DAM

DEEP SEA BERTH AND SHIPLOADERA new deep sea berth and shiploader was installed near Port McNeill for shipping construction aggregate. The shiploader and berth enable loading of Panamax class ships at a rate of 4000 tph with minimal warping. The 540 m long offshore conveyor carries sand or gravel to the quadrant beam shiploader from an aggre-gate pit and processing plant 2 km upland. Design, construction and commissioning were completed in less than 16 months.

Owner: Orca Sand and Gravel (Herb Wilson). Designers: Seabulk Systems (Sid Sridhar PEng, Carlos Johansen PEng, Mark Mat-tila PEng, David Popoff PEng), (DJ&T Engineering (Ranko Vulic PEng), MM Johnson Engineers (Donovan Campbell EIT).Electrical: Fransen Engineering (Mark Lafferty PEng; Darryl Clark PEng, Scott Brehaut EIT). Primary marine contractor: Vancouver Pile Driving. Primary mechnical contractor: Brymark Installations. Primary electrical contractor: Western Technical Installations. Pri-mary steel fabricator for shiploader: Ramsay Machine Works.

Vancouver Coastal Health Authority retained RFA Consult-ing Electrical Engineers for the project management, electrical design, equipment pre-tendering, acceptance testing, con-struction supervision, and commissioning of a new 2 x 1100 kW standby diesel generator power system in Koerner Pavilion for servicing three UBC Hospital acute and urgent care facilities. The removal of existing units and installation of new equipment had

to be performed while the hospital maintained normal operation. The system incorporates high-speed automatic synchronizing, automatic load control, computerized monitoring and data acqui-sition, seismic design for post-disaster operation, 600 V opera-tion and distribution, three automatic transfer switches, and PLC-controlled closed transition utility-generator load transfers.

DIESEL GENERATOR POWER SYSTEM


UPPER MAMQUAM HYDRO PROJECTCanadian Projects Limited provided engineering and project man-agement for the 25 MW run-of-river Upper Mamquam Hydro Proj-ect located on the Mamquam River, 7 km east of Squamish. The project was designed and constructed on budget in just 18 months, and will supply 100,000 MWh of clean electricity annually to Brit-ish Columbians. The rock-cut channel intake, constructed near the

falls, diverts water to the double-francis turbines in the powerhouse some 1,600 m downstream via a 2.7 m diameter steel penstock and 160 m long rock tunnel.

Owner: Canadian Hydro Developers (Ross Keating PEng). Cana-dian Projects: Paul Kemp PEng, Casey Rip PEng.

VICTOR PROJECTDIAMOND MINE

This 7,250 tpd De Beers diamond mine lies near the western shores of James Bay, Ontario. Site facilities will include an open pit mine, a processing plant capable of treating 2.65 million tpy, workshops, a warehouse, offi ces, a fuel storage facility, a pit dewatering sys-tem, an accommodation complex, and an airstrip. AMEC began its involvement in the Victor Project with an audit of a desktop study for the proposed diamond project, including documentation review, additional analysis and an opinion on the study. AMEC was sub-sequently awarded contracts for the pre-feasibility and feasibility studies of developing the diamond mine and processing plant, and is now currently providing full engineering, procurement, construc-tion management, logistics, commissioning, and environmental services for the Victor project. The project involves complex design issues driven by its location in a muskeg region, construction of a 400 km winter road, a 28-day annual freight logistics program, and assistance in permitting and negotiations with First Nations.

The City of Langley’s 204th Street Overpass Design-Build Project, valued at $29.4 million, commenced December 2005 and was completed ahead of schedule. The overpass is a 12-span concrete girder bridge approximately 420 m long. The bridge passes over Highway 10, Logan Creek, CP Rail Lines, and straddles a municipal road for fi ve spans and supports four lanes of traffi c, bi-directional bike lanes, and a pedestrian walkway along the structure. The new overpass reduces traffi c congestion by separating vehicles and

trains, decreases queues, and improves safety. A major highlight of the project included the minimization of environmental impact on Logan Creek by designing drainage retention ponds, and innova-tive seismic design using seismic pins at column tops.

Owner: City of Langley. Design-Build Team: Langley Road & Bridge (BA Blacktop and Vancouver Pile Driving). Design: Hatch Mott MacDonald.

204TH STREET OVERPASS

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06/07The City of Prince George recently completed construction of a major upgrade of the water system to improve the water supply to the Hart Highlands area. The completed project consists of the Fishtrap Island Collector Well and Pump Station, a new 750 mm diameter water transmission main to a new 4.54 ML Foothills Reservoir and Booster Pump Station. The Fishtrap Island Collec-tor Well, located in the Nechako River Aquifer, is the Province’s

largest radial collector well—capable of supplying 93 ML/d from the Nechako River Aquifer into the Prince George Water Distri-bution System. The design for the collector well included a year-long federal and provincial environmental assessment process. The City engaged Dayton & Knight to oversee detailed design, construction supervision and environmental monitoring for the project.

HART/NECHAKO WATER SUPPLY IMPROVEMENTS

EAGLE OVERHEADCABLE LASHERThe Eagle cable lasher has been developed by DCD Design & Manufacturing as the next generation of aerial cable lashers for fi ber optic or coaxial cable, and spearheads the company’s entry into the fi eld of overhead cable installation. Built from computer numerical control-machined aluminum and stainless steel com-ponents, the Eagle lasher weighs just 11 kg. As the machine is pulled overhead between utility poles, it gathers the transmission cables and secures them in a helical strand of stainless steel wire. With a bundle capacity of 57 mm diameter or a single cable up to 51 mm, this lasher will single or double lash most overhead tele-com or CATV installations, using standard wire coils loaded into drop-down magazines.

SierraScape walls can be vegetated or soil bioengineered to blend with surrounding environments. At Middleton Mountain in Vernon, such a wall was necessary to the developer’s plans to create three view lots above the wall. In this case, a sloping toe vertically ran into a 3 m high rock wall, terminating in the backyards of three residential buildings. To solve the issue of seeping water from the cut slope, a drainage system of perforated pipe with ¾" drain rock

wrapped with geotextile was used. Existing site fi ll was used for the wall face. The wall height is 10 m and building loads are 5.5 m from the wall face.

Supplier: Nilex. Contractor: Bearpaw Earthworks. Engineering: Horizon Geotechnical.

SIERRASCAPE STONE-FACED WALL


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TURBINE ENGINE MAINTENANCE PLATFORMPacifi c Support Equipment of Richmond designed and manu-factured this maintenance platform for use in rebuilding a turbine engine core. The LM2500 Turbine Engine is used in the industrial market for power generation at remote sites and gas compres-sion. The platform was designed by Patrick Chiu PEng and Daniel Mclean AScT, together with Steve Willard PEng of TransCanada Turbines in Airdrie, Alberta. One of the features of this platform is a modular design for ease of shipping and assembly. It includes a set of stairs that can be located on either side of the platform, as well as a walkway to connect two platforms. The front plat-forms are mobile, while the back platforms have a retractable deck for setting the engine in place. The platform has aluminum shelves for tool storage and all decking is covered with an anti-skid coating.

FERRY TERMINAL BERTH RECONSTRUCTIONThe new Berth #2 at BC Ferries’ Swartz Bay Terminal is an inno-vative pre-stressed fl oating concrete pontoon berth that replaces the existing traditional piled berth. The 180 m long by 51 m wide “J” shaped pontoon consists of 5 linked modules, and the con-nections between the individual fl oating pontoons are post ten-sioned, creating a single rigid structure. The innovative design and construction provides a berth with seismic post-disaster capability at Swartz Bay.

Owner: BC Ferries. Design: Hebden Engineering. Vehicle ramp design: Fraser Engineering. Seismic: TBG Seismic Consultants. Electrical: RFA Consulting. Geotechnical: Thurber Engineering. Hydraulics: Janox Fluid Power. General Contractor: Vancouver Pile Driving. Steel Fabricator: Ramsay Machine Works.

On Febrary 17, 2006 a 15 million m3 rock slide-debris avalanche occurred on Leyte Island in the Philippines, obliterating the village of Guinsaugon and killing approximately 1,000 people. Foreign Affairs Canada sent Rick Guthrie PGeo and Dr Stephen Evans from the University of Waterloo to offer technical assistance to the Philippines. The rapid characterization of the landslide, done with the cooperation of the Philippine Mines and Geoscience Bureau, determined that the landslide mass of sheared and brecciated vol-canic, sedimentary and volcaniclastic rocks was preconditioned to

failure by the tectonic setting and climatic conditions, but unusual specifi c triggers were absent. Geomorphology of the region made it clear that past landslides of similar size and nature were not uncommon despite their absence in recorded history. Despite the hazardous environment, local data on geology, geomorphology, and soil characteristics was extremely limited. Current efforts are focussed on developing a longer-term relationship aimed at fi lling data gaps, and ultimately lowering risk.

SOUTHERN LEYTE MUDSLIDE


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06/07Eroding shoreline along the banks of McMillan Island was cost-ing land and habitat. Home to Kwantlen First Nations, this small island located in the Fraser River at Fort Langley required bank protection efforts to mitigate the erosion and restore the natural vegetation. Northwest Hydraulic Consultants (Tamsin Lyle PEng) designed and implemented an innovative solution combining hard and soft structures. Deltalok from North Vancouver, a soft

ecological engineering system, was used for erosion control and restoring vegetation. Riprap was used for shoreline protection. The recently completed green solution will blend well with nature once the vegetation grows in.

SHORELINE EROSION MITIGATION

ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPEThe Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) is a 6 m diameter, off-axis, millimetre-wave telescope that will be used to study cosmic microwave background radiation. AMEC Dynamic Structures of Port Coquitlam was contracted by Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania to provide full turnkey design of the tele-scope through site commissioning. Unlike other radio telescopes whose primary function is to track faint radio-wave sources, ACT will scan a patch of sky millions of times. By overlaying informa-tion from multiple scans, the telescope should produce extremely high-sensitivity images. The primary refl ecting surface measures 6 by 6.4 m and is made up of machined aluminum panels held in alignment to within tens of microns. ACT is sited on Cerro Toco in the Chilean Andes in the Atacama Desert region of Chile at an altitude of 5,200 m.

Engineers/Designers: David Halliday PEng, Ye Zhou PEng, Wal-ter Brzezik PEng, Mike Gedig PEng, Eric Crum PEng, Tomas Morawski PEng, Ryszard Job, Mehdi Jalayer EIT, Dominic Tsang EIT, Mike Frost EIT, Bill Long AScT. Photo: Michele Limon of ACT.

ORIENTED STRAND BOARDMartco’s new Oriented Strand Board (OSB) plant in Oakdale, Louisiana is presently the world’s largest OSB facility. When the plant is at full production, the plant will utilize about 1.7 million tpy of small diameter pine pulpwood and will produce 1000 MMSF/year (3/8" basis) of OSB. Hinz was responsible for the overall power system design and the detailed control system design and programming of all process areas except

for the forming line and press. The plant-wide control system is comprised of 11 programmable logic controllers (PLC) totaling over 8,500 I/O. The PLC systems are interconnected via a 1 Gbit Fiber Optic Ethernet system.

Owner: Martco Limited Partnership. Project Manager: Adrian Schoonover. Hinz Automation: Ray Turenne PEng.


Vancouver International Airport embarked on an expansion to its International Terminal building. The project, YVR West Chevron Expansion, involves adding 36,500 m2 of space to the existing Van-couver International Airport Terminal Building. The expansion’s domestic hot water heating system is preheated by solar using evacuated tube solar collector technology. Product was supplied

by Canadian Solar Technologies, a local company based in Delta, BC and installed by Keith Plumbing and Heating Company.

Owner: YVR Project Management. Prime Consultant: Stantec Architecture. Photo: Wendy Tsang PEng.

SOLAR HOT WATER HEATING

TERRAIN HAZARD ASSESSMENT

In fall 2006, Madrone Environmental Services was retained by Allnorth Consultants of Prince George, BC to complete a terrain hazard assessment of a 105 km long access road corridor pro-posed for the Mt Klappan Coal Mine, being developed by Fortune Coal of London, Ontario. The proposed anthracite coal mine is located approximately 160 km northeast of Stewart and 300 km northwest of Smithers on the northwest fl ank of Mt Klappan in northwestern British Columbia. The proposed road will cross complex terrain in four watersheds and will traverse alpine, mid-slope and valley bottom environments. Madrone geoscientists Gordon Butt PGeo and Scott Weston PGeo assessed terrain and terrain hazards in the form of detailed terrain and terrain sta-bility mapping and detailed on-site terrain analysis of key road segments. Key works included quantifying surfi cial geology and material properties, and identifying natural hazards including the potential for debris fl ows, landslides, slumps, rockfalls, and fl ooding and channel avulsion on fans.

CANADA LINE CUT AND COVERThe cut and cover tunnel along Cambie Street forms part of the Canada Line Rapid Transit Project, which is being designed and constructed by SNC-Lavalin. Tyam Construction is responsible for the challenging task of locating and supporting the many utilities running underground across the tunnel excavation. Sus-pended above the tunnel are fi bre optic cables owned by Telus and Allstream, and GVRD and city water mains. Without the

reinforcement provided by Tyam and the support designs from All-Span Engineering, these sometime fragile utilities would not otherwise be able to sustain themselves. Caring for these utilities is one of the highest priorities on this project to ensure that municipal, power and telecommunication services remain operational during construction.

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06/07The HRS-25 is a laser triangulation sensor for use on coordinate measurement machines. It is used for precise non-contact dimen-sional measurement in applications such as reverse engineering and inspection. The HRS-25 is one of the fastest and most accu-rate sensors of this kind with a fi eld of view of 25 mm x 25 mm, 75,200 xy sample points per second, and an accuracy per point of 8 micron (1 sigma). 3DM completed the development of this

sensor during 2006 and now manufactures it for OEM custom-ers. Scope of the development work included all the electronics, optics, composite optical body, embedded fi rmware and support software. John Keightley PEng led an engineering group of fi ve on this project.

HRS-25 LASER TRIANGULATION SENSOR

BUSWELL STREET SANITARY PUMP STATIONFundamental to the City of Richmond’s wastewater collection system are the approximately 155 sanitary pump stations. Con-struction of the Buswell Sanitary Pump Station was required to meet the planned city centre area densifi cation adjacent to the Canada Line currently under construction. Installation of the 3.05 m diameter fi breglass pump station with duplex 60 hp pump capability and gravity main was particularly challenging given the city’s soil conditions, high water table and proximity of signifi cant adjacent residential buildings. Construction of the pump station was completed via sheet pile caisson excavation and sealed tremie base. Installation of the 5 m deep gravity main required strategic dewatering to avoid structural damage to adjacent build-ings and infrastructure.

Professionals Involved: Jim Young PEng (City of Richmond), Steve Brubacher PEng, Simpson Hong PEng (Urban Systems), Ted Watanabe PEng (Watanabe Engineering), Brian Nakai PEng (Thurber).

A large gas heat exchanger at J R Simplot’s Pocatello, Idaho sulph-uric acid plant was replaced with Vancouver-based NORAM’s pat-ented Split Flow exchanger. The original carbon steel exchanger, 20 ft in diameter, had 5,400 tubes and weighed more than 650,000 lbs. Its large size required site assembly in 1996, making qual-ity control and schedule subject to the weather. The NORAM exchanger was shop fabricated in stainless steel. The new unit was

half the weight of the old exchanger with 50% fewer tubes, and only 16 ft in diameter. Trucking nevertheless required a 300 ft trailer with 27 axles, powered by three cabs. The patented hot sweep of the NORAM design keeps metal surfaces suffi ciently heated to prevent condensation and sulfate fouling, thus mitigating corrosion and pressure drop increase across the exchanger. The unit is in service and has met all process and pressure-drop guarantees.

GAS HEAT EXCHANGER


WATER TREATMENT PLANT UPGRADE TEMPORARY WORKSAllnorth Consultants provided construction engineering services for the temporary works required to construct a cast-in-place con-crete water intake structure coupled with piping under the riverbed of the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton, Alberta. The tem-porary works consisted of a 160 m long work bridge designed to support 150 t capacity cranes as well as a three-phase cofferdam system. The cofferdam system allowed for the water intake and

piping to be installed “in the dry” 5.4 m below the riverbed and up to 8 m below the water surface.

Prime Consultant: Allnorth Consultants (Don Williams PEng). Geo-technical Subconsultant: Global Earth Solutions (Mahmoud Mah-moud PEng). Temporary Works contractor: Ruskin Construction (Andrew Purdey).

DEBRIS FLOW HAZARD EVALUATION

Purnamarca is an expanding resort area within the newly desig-nated Quebrada de Humahuaca UNESCO World Heritage Site in the northern Argentinian Andes. Alluvial fans in this spectacularly beautiful arid region are frequently affected by extensive debris fl ows when rain falls on the largely barren Andes. Lionel Jackson PGeo worked on evaluation of debris fl ow magnitude and intensity for alluvial fans near Purnamarca with colleagues from SEGEMAR (the geological survey of Argentina) as a part of the Geological Sur-vey administered and CIDA-funded Multinational Andean Project: Geoscience for Andean Communities in March 2007. This collabo-ration will continue through the end of 2007.

REVENUE METERING CURRENT TRANSFORMERACCURACY VERIFICATION

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Schneider Electric of Victoria, BC has developed a high-voltage current sensor to verify accuracy of revenue metering current trans-formers. BC Transmission Corporation and BC Hydro assisted with prototype testing. The measurement system includes a unique, high-accuracy sensor that clamps onto the conductor at up to 750 kV. Another sensor monitors the test current transformer output. Both sensors collect GPS time-stamped current magnitude and phase

data, downloaded via wireless telemetry and analyzed to produce ratio and phase error values over a range of operating load cur-rents. The equipment can be installed live and the test can be per-formed without the need for an outage and associated risks.

Professionals involved: Colin Gunn PEng, Graham Spencer PEng, Jim Gurney PEng, Sam Gaib PEng, Marc Ricci EIT, Stewart Harding EIT.


WOLVERINE MINE Westmar was recently retained by Western Canada Coal (WCC) to provide design, project management and construction manage-ment services for WCC’s new 2.4 million tpy, $200 million coal processing facility for Wolverine Mine near Tumbler Ridge, BC. The project comprised a mine truck dump, a rotary coal breaker to separate the coal from the rock, a coal wash plant, a coal dryer plant, a stacking and storage facility, and a train load-out. Wash plant tailings and site run-off are controlled through a system of diversion channels and containment ponds. Four on-site wells provide the plant process water, and power is provided through a new local substation connected by a 15 km power line to the BC Hydro main. Westmar, its subconsultants, and contractors—with the active and considerable support of the client—achieved both the schedule and budget objectives in a period of rapid material and construction cost escalation.

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06/07Aker Kvaerner Chemetics was awarded a contract in early 2005 to retrofi t and convert Lucite’s existing sulphuric acid plant in Memphis Tennessee to double absorption operation. The major-ity of the engineering and procurement took place in Vancouver, while the equipment and materials were sourced globally. The project was fast-tracked from the start of design to mechani-cal completion in 14½ months and was commissioned in June/

July 2006. Due to the fast-track nature of the project, the 30 ft diameter stainless steel catalytic converter vessel was supplied partially shop-fabricated in eight 180º segments to shorten fi eld construction time.

Professionals Involved: Jim Shepherd PEng, Tom Wacker PEng, Roger Richardson PEng.

SULPHURIC ACID PLANT RETROFIT

URS Canada is providing engineering services and construction administration for the design and installation of automated air-port baggage handling systems at Kelowna International Airport and Calgary International Airport. These systems are replacing conventional methods of having passengers queuing up to have baggage tagged, placed on a conveyor belt and sorted by air-line agents. URS’s baggage handling systems transport baggage

through security screening systems and onward to a makeup area in a baggage hall after passengers have secured bag tags, 10-digit bar code tags, to their baggage. In the baggage hall, bags are sorted by a fully automated system for further handling by airline baggage handlers. The baggage security screening systems employ state-of-the art equipment supplied by, among others, General Electric Co and L-3 Communications.

BAGGAGE HANDLING SYSTEMS


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In May 2007, Sacré-Davey Innovations (SDI) began commission-ing BC’s fi rst combined heat and power fuel cell installation at Easywash, a commercial carwash in North Vancouver. As part of SDI’s Integrated Waste Hydrogen Utilization Project, 89 kg of hydrogen at 6,500 psi is delivered to the carwash each day, where it is consumed by the fuel cell. Equipped with a 150 kW fuel cell, the hydrogen is converted to DC power and inverted

to three phase AC to feed the carwash. Power not used by the carwash is sold to BC Hydro through a net metering program. The heat generated by the fuel cell is captured by circulating water from the carwash’s 35,000 L well-water storage tank, pre-heating the carwash process water.

Fuel Cell Integration: Ian Parker PEng and Joe Rabel.

HEAT AND POWER FUEL CELL

BRIDGE SUPERSTRUCTURE LAUNCHThis curved steel superstructure consists of four lines of 3 m deep plate girders. The girders were launched as separate girder-pair units from the West Abutment to the East Abut-ment. There were six spans to launch for each unit, totalling 404 m, with a maximum 80 m span. Each completed girder-pair unit weighed 1,350 and was launched up the 6% grade on the 550 m constant radius by a proprietary hydraulic incremental launch system anchored to the West Abutment. The bridge was launched at a height of 100 m over the Trans-

Canada Highway, Kicking Horse River and CP Rail tracks.

Owner: Ministry of Transportation. Client: Trans-Park High-way Constructors. Bridge Erection & Launch Contractor: KWH Constructors. Launch Design: Somerset Engineering (Peter Saunderson PEng, Tony Tecklenborg PEng, Robert Gale PEng, Phil Sullivan PEng, Kelly Ching EIT). Independent Checking: Structural Concepts.


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UBC OKANAGAN GEOEXCHANGE SYSTEMUBC Okanagan is expanding facilities and a groundwater-based open loop geoexchange system is being constructed to provide heating and cooling for some of the new buildings, using heat exchangers coupled with untreated groundwater supplied to each building. Return water fl ows through a sepa-rate pipeline to injection wells. When operational in fall 2007, the geoexchange system will include sophisticated controls, data acquisition and groundwater/thermal monitoring.

Professionals Involved: Aidan Kiernan PEng, Nicholas Maile PEng (UBC O/UBC Properties Trust), Scott Schillereff PGeo, Katherine Johnston EIT (EBA Engineering Consultants), Alberto Bicol PEng, Vladimir Mikler PEng, Neil Janssen PEng (Cobalt Engineering), Bruce Candline PEng (Falcon Engineering), CTQ Consultants.

Honeywell Process Solutions in North Vancouver recently developed a new scanning measurement platform, Express Moisture, to measure moisture content in fl at sheet processes. This new product utilizes a remote distributed sensing architecture that allows for a small scanner cross-section size, online accessibility, and distribution of multiple sensors. In contrast to typical scanning paper sensors, the electronics for the infrared source and detector are remotely mounted in a safe location away from the process.

Project team: Gary Burma PEng, John Harjula PEng, Ulysse Dos Santos PEng, Sherman Wong PEng, Greg Lehoux PEng, Dan Stevens PEng, Ron Beselt, Dr Frank Haran, Dr Dan Gordon, Brian Anderson, Wayne Lim, Dick Wallner, Andrzej Nawrocki, Ted Jasinski, Michael Wardas, Ross MacHattie.

ADVANCED SCANNINGMOISTURE SENSOR

West Coast Engineering Group was responsible for the design and supply of overhead highway sign support structures on Yel-lowhead Trail and 156th Street Interchange in Edmonton, Alberta. Ioan Giosan PEng and Ted Brockman PEng optimized the design of the sign support structures by using fi nite element numerical simulation techniques developed in house by West Coast Engi-

neering Group. A pinned joint connection between the beam and columns was utilized to provide for ease of installation and an aesthetically pleasing design.

Design and Fabrication: West Coast Engineering Group. Installa-tion Contractor: Epcor Technologies.

YELLOWHEAD TRAIL AND 156TH STREET INTERCHANGE


GRANDVIEW WATER PUMP STATION

The new Grandview Water Pump Station in South East Surrey provides domestic and fi re protection service to rapidly expand-ing residential and commercial areas and replaces an ageing and undersized existing station. The new station is located near 168th Street and 24th Avenue, immediately adjacent to the GVRD’S Grandview Reservoir. The pump station is a cast-in-place concrete structure and contains four vertical turbine pumps and one sub-mersible turbine with a spare bay for an additional pump. The cur-rent pumping capacity of the station is 680 L/s. Station operation is fully automated with a system for remote alarm notifi cation and data logging.

Owner: City of Surrey (Kok Kuen Li PEng, Ron Smith). Design/Proj-ect Management: Omni Engineering (Peter Mickelson PEng, Ken Westerveld PEng, Dave Carew AScT).

The Whalley Reservoir in Surrey is an important component of the regional water supply system. Construction of the structural system seismic upgrade and improvements to the reservoir’s operational fl exibility are currently underway. The target performance is to have the reservoir operational following a major earthquake with only minor repairable damage. This consists of thickening the perimeter walls and footings on all four sides of the reservoir, and installing

16 seismic dampers, to control the transfer of earthquake induced forces from the roof slab to the walls.

Owner: Greater Vancouver Water District. Design & Project Man-agement: GVRD (Met Ayalp PEng, Mike Searle PEng, Alady Suku-mar PEng). Peer Review: Svetlana Brzev PEng. Contractor: Civil Construction.

WHALLEY RESERVOIR SEISMIC UPGRADE

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Kinder Morgan Canada recently completed a $228 million capi-tal expansion on their Trans Mountain Pipeline, a 610 mm diam-eter line, which runs from Edmonton to the Burnaby Terminal. The Trans Mountain Pump Station Expansion project included 10 new pump stations complete with utility power infrastructure, along with upgrades at existing pump stations and facilities.

Professionals Involved: Greg Toth PEng, Terry DeLong PEng, Shawn McGregor PEng. Tom Kwong PEng, Zsigmond Pal PEng, Dave Freeborn PEng, Carl Bourque PEng, John Buckle PEng, Colin Bakoway PEng, Bill Sullivan PEng, Garth Walker PEng, Guy Lemieux PEng, Bill Hassard PEng, Ron Heinrich PEng, Herman Kwan PEng, Randy Clelland PEng, Pat Siega PEng, Stu Connacher AScT, Vince Masek PEng.

TRANS MOUNTAIN PIPELINE


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For eight months starting in summer 2006, fi ve offi cers of the Uni-versity of Victoria’s Campus Security Services used Angstrom Power’s A2 Flashlights during their regular duties. The A2 uses a micro hydrogen fuel cell system along with an LED light to pro-duce a bright white light. Hydrogen is stored in a metal hydride system in the fl ashlight handle. If fi lled completely with hydrogen gas, the fl ashlight will run for over thirty hours before it requires refuelling. Throughout the trial, users provided Angstrom with

valuable information about the performance of the devices under real working conditions. Angstrom technology provides benefi ts such as longer run times, faster recharging, and longer cycle life compared to existing batteries. Today, this technology powers fl ashlights, bicycle lights and portable power units; soon it could power billions of handheld devices, including cell phones, MP3 players, two-way radios, and any other electronic gadgets.

MICRO HYDROGEN FUEL CELL

Kwantlen University College’s Trades and Technology Centre in Cloverdale is Canada’s newest high-tech facility for trades, technology and applied training programs. Targeted LEED Gold, the 17,200 m2 campus consists of three major build-ing blocks with classrooms, workshops and academic facili-ties. An indoor “covered street” provides visual and physical access to every fl oor and ensures optimum natural light and ventilation. The facility has a project value of $42.3 million was offi cially opened in April 2007.

Architect: Bunting Coady Architects. Design: Cohos Evamy Architects. Structural: Bush, Bohlman and Partners. Mechani-cal/electrical/civil: Earth Tech. Project Management: MHPM Project Managers. Landscape architect: PWL Partnership Landscape Architects. Contractor: Ledcor. Code: Gage Bab-cock & Associates. Building envelope : Trow Associates. Cost consultant: JBA. Geotechnical: Levelton Consultants. Photo: Bunting Coady Architects.

TRADES AND TECHNOLOGY CENTRE


HYDROGEN-SAFE ENVIRONMENTAL TEST

CHAMBERThe National Research Council’s Institute for Fuel Cell Innova-tion operates a hydrogen-safe environmental chamber unit for testing and evaluation of full-size, fuel cell-powered vehicles and components. The unit was designed and built by Mentra Systems of Montreal. Mentra’s modular design of full scale environmental chambers uniquely allows local development and testing. The design team included Wayne McKinnon PEng and Gilles Brûlé PEng of Mentra, and Sohrab Saidi PEng of Carpian Consulting Engineers. The chamber was built to safely test equipment sys-tems and devices operating with hydrogen and other combustible gases. It can simulate sea level to high altitudes, sub-zero to high temperature and humidity conditions, and is equipped with a dyna-mometer for direct vehicle output power measurements. The test unit consists of three self-contained modules that can be discon-nected for relocation. Funding was provided through a partnership between National Research Council Canada, Western Economic Diversifi cation and Fuel Cells Canada.

Earth Tech started delivering high quality drinking water to the City of Tianjin, China in April 2007. Earth Tech led this pilot, design, build, fi nance and operation project that started in 2001 for the comple-tion of the 500 ML/d water treatment plant. The fully automated process includes dissolved air fl otation and rapid gravity fi ltration. This is the fi rst and largest water treatment plant of its type in China. The project involved the demolition of a portion of the existing water

treatment plant that dated to 1902. Earth Tech took over the exist-ing operations staff and ensured an uninterrupted supply of water into the distribution system while constructing the new completely covered plant. It occupies a small footprint due to the high rate clar-ifi cation and a two-tiered structure design. As the plant is located in a residential area, architectural fi nishes are very important.

JIE YUAN WATER TREATMENT PLANT

Fransen Engineering has been involved in piping additions and mod-ifi cations in order to improve the operational fl exibility of the South Tank Farm at the Suncor Energy facility in Fort McMurray, Alberta. The goal of the project is to allow the various diluted bitumen stor-age tanks the fl exibility to be taken out of service for mandatory tank inspections, while enabling the plant to continue operating at full capacity. The project includes modifi cations to piping, the addition

of piles and supports, and the installation of instrumentation and electrical services. The scheduled completion for the fi nal phase of construction is for the fall of 2007.

Professionals Involved: Mel Gray PEng (Suncor), Mark Vuletin PEng (Project Manager, Mechanical), Raymond Tong PEng (Structural), Cor-rey McWhirter PEng (Electrical), Eric Stolberg AScT (Instrumentation).

SOUTH TANK FARM MODIFICATIONS

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project HIGHLIGHTS 06/07 - Somerset Engineeringsomerseteng.com/.../Kicking-Horse...Project-Highlights-Jul-Aug-07.pdf · This state-of-the-art ofﬁ ce facility provides ... project