MARCH 2021
TOWERING HEIGHTS
CONTRACTORS WORK TO TAME KICKING HORSE CANYON
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VOLUME 66, NO.2/MARCH 2021
COVER STORY 16 Towering heights Construction crews work to tame Kicking Horse Canyon
IN THIS ISSUE 7 Comment Site C to go on. Thank, or blame, the $10 billion in sunk costs
9 News
The major developments
16
12 Construction stats The key figures
22 Life in the construction field A woman’s perspective on a career in the industry
38 Carrying the load The vital equipment component beneath your feet
22
COLUMNS 42 Software
33
The road to autonomy
44 Risk Calibrating solutions to your problems
46 Contractors and the law Corporations, contractors and cruel and unusual punishment
45 Index of Advertisers
CONCRETE ON-SITE 26
33
Cement producers innovating their way to low carbon concrete
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Cementing change
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COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF B.C. MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION
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SOLUTION
COMMENT
Site C to go on. Thank, or blame, the sunk costs
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Continuing a string of budget overruns on major Canadian hydroelectric projects, British Columbia’s Site C dam will cost no less than 50 per cent more than its previous estimate. Premier John Horgan vowed to forge ahead with construction late last month regardless, as the government made public a recent review that details several serious issues at the ever-controversial megaproject. Expenses for Site C are now pegged at $16 billion, up from $10.7 billion previously. A year has also been added to the project’s timeline. It is the second time the hydro site on the Peace River has survived Horgan’s proverbial axe. After grabbing the levers of power from the Liberals in 2017, the NDP reluctantly opted to continue with construction, despite being vocal opponents of the project. Sunk costs at that stage – about two years into construction – were $4 billion. Now, they’re at least $10.2 billion and the B.C. government is no longer signalling that cancellation is a viable option. It noted termination and remediation would force up power costs for ratepayers 26 per cent over 10 years. Simply completing construction at a higher cost, on the other hand, will raise rates three per cent higher than current forecasts. “When we made the decision to move forward with Site C in 2017, none of us could have imagined the impact that the pandemic would have on projects here in B.C. and around the world,” Horgan said. “The project is facing new challenges, and we are committed to managing it... Cancelling it would cause people’s electricity rates to skyrocket, and we will not burden people with additional financial stress during these difficult times with nothing to show for it.” But the pandemic is only part of the story. In fact, according to Milburn’s Site C Project Review, the pandemic response has been an
area that has gone well. Alternatively, issues with the Main Civil Works contract, geotechnical problems, and ineffective cost and risk controls, have all caused major problems. Euphemistically, the review says BC Hydro’s relationship with the civil works team, Peace River Hydro Partners, “could be improved.” “The apparent lack of a partnership may underpin many of the problems BC Hydro is experiencing. Employees describe communication as poor and describe the ability to work together to solve problems as limited,” the review says. Geotechnical problems have also been the source of a host of change orders, amending agreements and higher costs, despite the locale being well studied at the outset. Topping the list is bedding plane movement below the shear key of the powerhouse buttress. The review found the issue required “robust mitigation.” Problematic cost and risk controls, meanwhile, are on full display by a casual comparison of Site C’s current cost estimate with the $8.3 billion budgeted for the project in 2014. It’s far from the only Canadian hydro project that has ended up underwater. As B.C. announced the higher costs for Site C Feb. 26, the Manitoba government was simultaneously sharing its review of the exceeded budget at the Keeyask Generating Station. Far greater cost overruns at the Muskrat Falls project in Labrador have been well-known for years. The Milburn review heaps a relatively small amount of blame for the added Site C costs on the construction teams, but it is clear contractors, engineers and governments must collaborate more effectively when executing these hydro megaprojects. If they do not, there will be no more of them to bid on in the future.
David Kennedy / Editor dkennedy@on-sitemag.com
on-sitemag.com / 7
CONTRIBUTORS
MEET OUR CONTRIBUTORS FOR THIS ISSUE VOLUME 66, NO.2/MARCH 2021 www.on-sitemag.com
Julie Zabizewski / Project Manager and Health & Safety Manager, Vestacon Ltd. On establishing a new approach for women in construction: “I couldn’t help but notice moments when I was treated differently as a woman, than if I were a man in the same role. This is the hard truth, but in time, as the industry evolves and more women take on power positions, I know there will be change.”
READER SERVICE Print and digital subscription inquires or changes, please contact Urszula Grzyb, AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Email: ugrzyb@annexbusinessmedia.com Tel: (416) 510-5180 Fax: (416) -510-6875 Mail: 111 Gordon Baker Road, Suite 400, Toronto, ON M2H 3R1 PUBLISHER | Peter Leonard (416) 510-6847 pLeonard@on-sitemag.com
Jacob Stoller / Principal, StollerStrategies On the opportunity in operating virtual fleets: “Fully autonomous heavy construction equipment is still years away, but technology developers have overcome some major hurdles, providing significant opportunities for contractors.”
David Bowcott / Global Director – Growth, Innovation & Insight, Global Construction and Infrastructure Group at Aon Risk Solutions On how to calibrate tech solutions to your problems: “The days of moving from one project to another and not holding on to all the data created from that project are gone. For the industry to truly improve its productivity, it needs to more effectively collect all the data from all its projects.”
EDITOR | David Kennedy (416) 510-6821 dkennedy@on-sitemag.com MEDIA DESIGNER | Lisa Zambri lzambri@annexbusinessmedia.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER | David Skene (416) 510-6884 dskene@on-sitemag.com ACCOUNT COORDINATOR | Kim Rossiter (416) 510-6794 krossiter@on-sitemag.com COO | Scott Jamieson sjamieson@annexbusinessmedia.com
Established in 1957, On-Site is published by Annex Business Media 111 Gordon Baker Road, Suite 400, Toronto, ON M2H 3R1 Publications Mail Agreement No. 40065710 ISSN: 1910-118X (Print) ISSN 2371-8544 (Online) SUBSCRIPTION RATES Canada $49.50 per year, United States $113.00 per year, Other foreign $136.50, Single Copy Canada $13.50. On-Site is published 7 times per year except for occasional combined, expanded or premium issues, which count as two subscription issues. Occasionally, On-Site will mail information on behalf of industry-related groups whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to receive this information, please contact our circulation department in any of the four ways listed above. Annex Privacy Officer privacy@annexbusinessmedia.com Tel: 800-668-2374 Content copyright ©2021 by Annex Publishing & Printing Inc may not be reprinted without permission.
Yvan Houle / Borden Ladner Gervais LLP On a notable ruling on cruel and unusual punishment: “Contractors and subcontractors should be mindful of complying with the requirements of the various regimes, lest they be faced with the consequences of what they may view as excessive fines.”
On-Site receives unsolicited materials (including letters to the editor, press releases, promotional items and images) from time to time. On-Site, its affiliates and assignees may use, reproduce, publish, re-publish, distribute, store and archive such unsolicited submissions in whole or in part in any form or medium whatsoever, without compensation of any sort. DISCLAIMER This publication is for informational purposes only The content and “expert” advice presented are not intended as a substitute for informed professional engineering advice. You should not act on information contained in this publication without seeking specific advice from qualified engineering professionals.
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8 / MARCH 2021
INDUSTRY NEWS
PHOTO: PROVIDENCE HEALTH CARE
A rendering of the new hospital, expected to open in late 2026 in Vancouver.
INDUSTRY>NEWS PCL picked to build $2.1B replacement for St. Paul’s Hospital at new Vancouver site A team headed by PCL Construction has been picked to build the new St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. Providence Health Care announced its choice Feb. 9 after shortlisting two build teams to bid on the project in fall 2019. The final contract has yet to be signed, but the selection of the PCL team effectively caps a 20-month procurement period and years of preliminary planning. The latest estimates for the new facility at 1002 Station St. in the False Creek Flats peg the total cost at $2.083 billion, up from $1.9 billion previously. The sprawling – at least relative to its densely packed surroundings – 18.4-acre site will
let the hospital nearly double its current footprint. The site of the existing St. Paul’s at 1081 Burrard St. was sold last summer for approximately $1 billion. The funds from the sale of the 125-year-old hospital will be reinvested into the new facility, though the current hospital will remain operational until its replacement opens. Plans for the new hospital include 548 private inpatient rooms, an emergency department, an urgent care clinic and a long list of specialty services. The initial two phases of work cover construction of the hospital, as well as a clinical support and research centre for clinics, primary
care, health care technology and other adjacent services. Future work at the site may also lead to construction of new community buildings, such as a mixed-use development and hotel. Along with PCL, HDR Architecture Associates Inc. and Stantec Architecture Ltd. are included in the design-build team. With financial close expected shortly, construction on the new hospital has been scheduled to start this summer. Work will last about five years. Providence Health said it expects to release more details once the construction contract is finalized, but pointed to late 2026 as an opening date for the new hospital.
RFQ issued for new greenfield hospital in Niagara Falls, Ont. Infrastructure Ontario and Niagara Health have taken the first step in procurement toward the construction of a new hospital at the province’s southeastern tip. The Crown agency and the healthcare provider issued a request for qualifications for P3 teams interested in taking on the build, finance and maintain contract Feb. 4. The new hospital is planned for a 50-acre greenfield site at Biggar and Montrose roads in Niagara Falls, Ont. Early estimates for the 1.25 million sq. ft. facility run to less than $1 billion, according to IO’s latest P3 Market Update.
The new hospital will “consolidate and rationalize services” from several existing healthcare facilities in the region, including Greater Niagara General, Port Colborne and Douglas Memorial. An emergency department is included in the plans, as well as a range of specialized services, such as diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical care. The design for the facility targets LEED Silver standards. IO plans to shortlist build teams for the project this fall. An RFP process will follow, with a winning bidder expected to be chosen in 2022. Construction will take roughly four years. on-sitemag.com / 9
INDUSTRY NEWS
Despite local opposition, Ottawa signs off on $250M CN logistics hub in Milton, Ont. The federal government has green-lit a major rail infrastructure project west of Toronto in spite of vocal opposition from the local community. The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada approved the Canadian National Railway Co.’s Milton Logistics Hub at the end of January, after an environmental assessment process lasting roughly five years. The federal nod on the $250 million intermodal project subjects the proposed facility to 325 conditions designed to govern air quality, groundwater and wildlife. Among many other stipulations, CN will need to limit the number of trucks entering the site to 800 per day. Jonathan Wilkinson, the minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada, said the approval shows Ottawa’s commitment to both economic and environmental issues. “Today’s decision to approve the Milton Logistics Hub Project, which is subject to a wide range of conditions that the proponent must comply with to protect human health and the environment, demonstrates that the federal regulatory process meets the economic and environmental objectives of Canadians at the same time,” he said in a release.
10 / MARCH 2021
In a statement, CN said it is pleased with the federal government’s approval of the project, describing the facility as a “much-needed addition to the Canadian supply chain to meet the growing demand goods into the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area.” “We would like to thank all three levels of government, Indigenous communities and their leaders, customers, members of the community, business groups, and stakeholders who took the time to participate in the review process and provide comments on this project,” the company said in a statement. “CN is committed to continued engagement with communities and interested parties as we move forward with the project.” The new intermodal facility will be built on company-owned land at roughly Tremaine and Britannia roads in Milton and be used mainly to transfer shipping containers between trucks and trains. Several pieces of support infrastructure are also included, such as a truck entrance and queuing area; a realignment and extension of the railway’s mainline; and a stormwater management system. Throughout much of the review process, the project has seen determined opposi-
tion from the local community, tied mainly to concerns over traffic congestion and pollution. Halton Region, which includes Milton, Oakville, Burlington and Halton Hills, said it was “extremely disappointed” with the federal approval. “It is unconscionable that the federal government would approve this project despite findings from its own Federal Review Panel that the project will cause significant adverse effects on human and environmental health,” Halton Regional Chair, Gary Carr, said in a release. “There has never been a decision like this before.” The federal approval acknowledges adverse environmental effects, but adds the effects “are justified in the circumstances.” Following the federal decision Jan. 21, Halton Region said it would review the approval and determine the best path forward. On Feb. 19 it said it commenced an application at the Federal Court of Canada for a judicial review of federal decisions that led to the approval of the project. CN said it is working incorporate the 325 conditions in the project’s design. The IAAC noted several approvals and permits are still required, pointing to authorization from the Canadian Transportation Agency.
PHOTO: CN
An existing CN intermodal hub in Brampton. The new facility in Milton is needed to meet growing requirements in the Toronto area, the company says.
The demolition of several buildings along the route of Vancouver’s new Broadway Subway this winter will clear the way for six new stations and provide contractors laydown space for when major construction begins in the spring. Buildings in the 100 block of East Broadway, as well as those in the 2500 block of Main Street, will be the first torn down, the province said in a Feb. 2 project update. Demolition is scheduled to run through April. Crews from Acciona Infrastructure Canada Inc. and Ghella Canada Ltd. began surveying and other preliminary work last fall. The two firms are heading the design-build team in charge of the $1.7 billion construction phase of the project. Utility relocations and geotechnical investigations for the 5.7-kilometre extension of the SkyTrain’s Millennium Line also started last year. The staging and storage space cleared over the next several months will let major construction get underway by spring. The province said this includes work on the tunnel portal and the project’s elevated guideway near Great Northern Way. Tunnelling itself is slated to start next year. All six of the new stations will be situated under Broadway and connected to the existing VCC–Clark
Road to Ontario’s Ring of Fire region inches forward with environmental assessment Two First Nations in Ontario’s remote north have selected a pair of engineering firms to carry out an environmental assessment for an all-season road between the two communities. The proposed “Northern Road Link” would connect the Marten Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation, and is an integral component of the wider project to construct a road into the mining region known as the Ring of Fire. “This road is an economic lifeline for our communities and it will bring jobs, training and prosperity where our youth currently have no opportunities,” said Bruce Achneepineskum, chief of the Marten Falls First Nation, in a release. Achneepineskum added that both communities are committed to responsibly studying any road development within their traditional territories. “The Environmental Assessment is essential to our community-decision making,” he said. Without understanding the potential environmental and other implications of a northern road, we won’t be able to make informed decisions about the future of our lands.” Spurred by a new agreement struck last spring between the Ontario government and the two First Nations, SNC-Lavalin Inc. and Dillon Consulting have been selected to take on the detailed study of the route. Any construction on the project remains years away. The Marten Falls and Webequie First Nations expect the environmental assessment to take no less than three years to complete.
PHOTO: PROVINCE OF B.C.
Site prep starts for Vancouver’s Broadway subway, major works scheduled for spring
The subway extension will add six new stations to the Millennium Line.
Station via an approximately 700-metre elevated guideway. The design team for the project – consisting of IBI Group, Dialog, Mott MacDonald Canada and Ingenieria Especializada Obra Civil e Industrial – is also expected to finalize the designs for the half dozen stations this spring. The new transit line is scheduled to open in 2025. Costs for the subway project total $2.8 billion.
21_0331_OnSite_MAR_CN Mod: February 19, 2021 1:54 PM Print: 02/24/21 page 1 v2.5
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CONSTRUCTION STATS A selection of data reflecting trends in the Canadian construction industry Workers Employed in Construction by Month 2020
January 1,497.6 February 1,489.7 March 1,487.5 April 1,173.9 May 1,247.6 June 1,330.8 July 1,364.3 August 1,368.8 September 1,369.4 October 1,377.8 November 1,404.1 December 1,401.2
2021
January 1,435.6.6
CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYMENT DROPS IN JANUARY, BUT CONSTRUCTION BUCKS TREND WITH BIG GAIN The construction labour market posted a strong showing to start 2021, even as employment in other parts of the Canadian economy slipped due to renewed COVID-19 restrictions. Approximately 38,700 workers were added to construction payrolls in January, up 2.8 per cent from December, Statistics Canada said in its most recent Labour Force Survey. The figure contrasts with a 1.2 per cent decline in employment across all industries. The substantial January gain in construction follows several months of relatively minor ups and downs, capped by a small loss in December. It also brings the industry closer to it pre-pandemic level of roughly 1.5 million workers. The construction labour market reached 1.436 million during the month, putting it 3.9 per cent short of its position last February.
In thousands of workers, seasonally adjusted SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA
INVESTMENT IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION JUMPS TO END 2020
UPWARD PRESSURE ON CONSTRUCTION COSTS EXPECTED THROUGH 2021
Spending on residential construction hit record levels to end 2020, driving overall building construction spending up 1.5 per cent in December, despite no change in the non-residential sector. Single-unit residential spending rose 2.6 per cent and multi-unit jumped 1.2 per cent during the final month of 2020, the most recent data from Statistics Canada shows, On the non-residential side, the commercial component was up 0.3 per cent, the institutional up 0.9 per cent and industrial down 0.2 per cent. Overall, spending remained at $4.4 billion across the non-residential sector.
Construction costs, particularly in the residential market, are expected to continue climbing into 2021, Statistics Canada said in its fourth quarter building construction index. It pointed to lofty lumber prices that it anticipates continuing to increase throughout the year as the main culprit, along with optimism for the reopening of the economy. The agency also reported a 2.9 per cent increase in residential construction costs in the final three months of 2020, the highest on record, tied predominantly to higher lumber costs and high demand. Costs for non-residential buildings rose 0.4 per cent, but saw less run-up due to business uncertainty and less reliance on lumber.
PER CENT INCREASE IN CANADIAN BUILDING COSTS
Quarter Non-residential Residential
2019 Q1
RESIDENTIAL
+2.6%
MULTI-UNIT
+1.2%
COMMERCIAL
-0.3%
INDUSTRIAL
-0.2%
12 / MARCH 2021
INSTITUTIONAL
+0.9%
0.8
0.3
Q2 0.4
0.6
Q3 0.5
0.6
Q4 0.4
0.5
2020 Q1
0.6
0.5
Q2 0.1
0.5
Q3 0.5
2.5
Q4 0.4
2.9
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ROADBUILDING
Towering Heights Construction crews start work to tame Kicking Horse Canyon
T
he Highway 1 pass through Kicking Horse Canyon, east of Golden British Columbia, is among the most rugged sections of the Trans-Canada Highway. Jagged twists and turns, steep embankments, towering cliffs and spectacular views make the route a magnet for
16 / MARCH 2021
tourists crossing the Rocky Mountains, with more than 10,000 vehicles daily during the peak summer season. But the route is also a major commercial transportation corridor moving millions of dollars in goods to serve interprovincial and international trade. The combination of
utility and beauty has commanded a steep price, with serious collision rates along a 26-kilometre stretch triple the provincial average for older two-lane rural highways. In 2003, the provincial and federal governments undertook to change that, embarking on one of Canada’s most complicated high-
PHOTOS: B.C. MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION
BY SAUL CHERNOS
The Park Bridge over the Kicking Horse River, just east of Golden, B.C. The bridge was built during Phase 2 of the highway widening project.
way redevelopment projects. Three phases of work have since been completed, and it’s the fourth, final round now underway along particularly precarious terrain that stands to be the wildest ride of this road widening adventure. Highway 1 had changed little since it
was built in the 1950s, roughly parallel to the path the Canadian Pacific Railway charted in the 1880s, and the goal is to bring the roadway up to modern-day standards for 100 kilometre per hour traffic. Crews plan to widen two lanes to four, place a concrete barrier down the centre, upgrade
rest areas and brake-checks, broaden shoulders to accommodate cyclists, and build bridges, ditches and retaining walls to reduce inclines and prevent highway-closing impacts from rock slides and avalanches. The work done thus far along 21 kilometres of roadway is significant. During on-sitemag.com / 17
ROADBUILDING An aerial view of a portion of the 4.8-kilometre stretch that will be widened during Phase 4.
It’s spectacular, steep and rugged. The reason it was left until the end is because it’s the most challenging from a technical perspective.” – Mike Lorimer, TI Corp. Phase 2, for instance, the 270-metrelong Yoho Bridge was redeveloped with a massive retaining wall designed to withstand impacts from boulders weighing up to 5,000 kilograms travelling at up to 125 km/h. Park Bridge, completed around the same time, is considered a showpiece with a tall, lengthy span rising from the valley below. “It’s quite a striking feature,” says Mike Lorimer, executive project director with Transportation Investment Corp., the provincial Crown corporation overseeing some of B.C.’s biggest infrastructure projects, including this one. “It’s got these great big pillars and goes through a massive rock cut.” However, the final 4.8-kilometres leads through the highest elevations, averaging 900 metres above sea level, and reaching 1,005 metres at its highest point. Lorimer characterizes the completion of Phase 3 nine years ago as essentially the winding down of all project work to make way for the unique challenges Phase 4 brings with the apex of Kicking Horse Canyon pass. He
18 / MARCH 2021
describes an awe inspiring landscape, with lofty rock cuts of fragile, fracture-prone limestone. “It’s spectacular, steep and rugged. The reason it was left until the end is because it’s the most challenging from a technical perspective.” Planners have always had all four phases in mind, broadly speaking, but focused attention to Phase 4 really started in 2008 with feasibility and engineering studies exploring the viability of plans and components. This led to what Lorimer describes as a fluid design that acknowledges exploratory drilling and geophysics don’t always reveal the precise physical nature and peculiarities of the complicated, rocky terrain. So, while Phase 4 calls for realigning 13 curves and attaching structures to the rock face, it’s understood there may be surprises. The five or six planned bridges will be simple enough, with no overhead structures, but the challenge will be anchoring piles and abutments into solid rock and constantly ensuring equipment is stable and safe. “This project is all about
keying a road into a steep, rocky, unstable slope,” Lorimer says. “So, as they encounter different rock horizons and other challenges, they’ll be able to pivot and change their design fairly easily to adapt to ground conditions or ideas they may have as they get into it.” Planned features include protective walls and other safeguards to prevent rocks from tumbling towards rail lines below. And while planners considered tunnels, they nixed them due to cost and extensive health and safety features that would be required. As planning for Phase 4 picked up steam, an environmental assessment addressed potential impacts to water sources and to flora and fauna. Detailed inventories of local species, including those at-risk and endangered, led to protective measures such as fencing to divert animals to dedicated crossings either underneath or over-top of the roadway. The construction contract even has provisions around how, when and where crews can blast and how they can do excavations, Lorimer says, citing the use of drones to map the habitats of multiple bat species and efforts to protect large herds of bighorn sheep. “There are areas we have to avoid at certain times of the year when it’s lambing season. It’s really about understanding the [wildlife] and how to minimize the impact.” Community consultation has helped
ROADBUILDING
According to local folklore, Kicking Horse Pass and Kicking Horse River were named during an 1850s expedition when Captain John Palliser, was kicked by his horse.
Construction during previous stages of the four-part project.
address local concerns. For instance, Dart Creek water users will have access to a bulk water station in Golden while access to their current water intake is limited during the project. The contract also requires creeks and streams be restored to their original condition through measures such as sediment control and vegetation retention. With the route key to tourism and commercial traffic, and residents relying on it for their daily needs, a detailed traffic management plan restricts full closures to overnight hours and requires advanced notice with schedules posted online. During the busy summer months, daytime stoppages will be limited to momentary traffic control for turning vehicles. Access will also be ensured during Easter and Thanksgiving long weekends,
20 / MARCH 2021
and open windows are planned for school buses, commuters and other essential local traffic even though other highways provide an alternate route. The price tag reflects the complexities. The first three phases cost $326 million, while Phase 4 is currently projected to cost $601 million. That’s up one-third from an initial estimate of $450 million in 2016, and even then Phase 4 was looking to become one of the most expensive roadwork projects per kilometre in Canadian history. In 2019, former BC Transportation Minister Claire Trevena attributed the increase to a hot construction market, increased labour and material costs, a reallocation of interest and new design considerations. With the province providing $386
million and the federal government $215 million, Phase 4 was awarded this past November as a design-build arrangement to Kicking Horse Canyon Constructors (KHCC), a consortium consisting of Aecon Group, Parsons and Emil Anderson Construction, completing a year-long procurement process. The $610 million includes the $440.6 million contract with KHCC plus $170 million for project management costs incurred since 2017, including conceptual and procurement work, archaeological and early environmental assessments, engineering and administration. While any highway redevelopment must obviously first and foremost benefit motorists, the Kicking Horse Canyon project also fits the provincial government’s strategy to ease a chronic labour shortage and reenergize an economy upended by COVID19. With substantial completion slated for winter 2023-24, Phase 4 is expected to employ 100 to 300 workers at a time, and BC Infrastructure Benefits (BCIB), a provincial Crown corporation, will handle most hiring and prioritize local people, particularly Indigenous people, women and people with disabilities, through a Community Benefits Agreement. “With the right kind of adjustments, we can get more of those underrepresented folks into the skilled trades so they can help build the future of British Columbia,” says Greg Johnson, a BCIB rep. Furthermore, Johnson says a project of this scope represents a significant and long term economic boost. “It means there’s going to be more people in those communities who have the skilled trades they need for upcoming projects, and they’ll be able to live close to home and work.” BCIB’s mission also includes safety, leveraging SiteReadyBC, a program of the BC Construction Safety Alliance, to provide workers with the core knowledge they need to understand safety requirements. Because BCIB handles most hiring, KHCC and its subcontractors can request workers experienced with specific machines and with hazardous landscapes, which seems apt for Kicking Horse Canyon. “If a worker doesn’t return home at the end of the day, there’s no community benefit or anything else that will return them to their family,” Johnson points out. “It’s some of the most challenging terrain anywhere in the country.”
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DIVERSITY
A WOMAN’S PERSPECTIVE
on life in the construction field
A
s a little girl, I must admit, a career in construction was not the most obvious choice. I recall enjoying the arts; I had a passion for drawing and painting, though I was proficient in science and math. In high school, we had a class to help us determine career options, where you selected your gender, and it generated appropriate choices based on the subjects in which you accelerated. Accounting, human resources, interior design, and architecture were all selected for me, with the latter two being the most appealing as I appreciated design and how buildings tie into their environments. I have always been very career oriented, but at the same time, I also saw
myself one day becoming a mother. Like most others at this early crossroads in their lives, having children seemed like a distant prospect, as I knew my focus would be on achieving my career goals ahead of starting a family. I ended up studying architecture, which was compelling, challenging and competitive. I was happy to see a good combination of men and women in my post-secondary program. We did a lot of group work as part of the curriculum and I consistently found myself in the role of team lead. One area we studied was project management, which I naturally gravitated towards. Although I had never considered this avenue, as I had never really known of any women in this type of
Julie Zabizewski alongside CAWIC President Luana Buratynski on a Habitat for Humanity Women Build project.
22 / MARCH 2021
role, colleagues encouraged me to explore it and, in the end, it was more in line with my personality and skillset. I eventually secured a job with a construction management firm in a project coordinator position following graduation. I was unsure how my career would evolve, as it is a very male-dominated field and across the industry, those at the top of the corporate ladder were predominantly men. In this respect, support of upper management goes a long way. I feel strongly that the culture in each corporation sets the tone for career advancement. At Vestacon, the company I continue to work with today, I am fortunate to be among a group that values and respects each team member’s opinion and encourages career growth. After a couple of years of pulling long hours as a coordinator and working hard to establish my value, I jumped at the chance to become an assistant project manager. Once I had the required project experience, I went for my Project Management Professional (PMP) designation. This led to my promotion into a project manager role. Leading my own construction jobs was incredibly rewarding and a huge leap forward in my career, however, I couldn’t help but notice moments when I was treated differently as a woman, than if I were a man in the same role. This is the hard truth, but in time, as the industry evolves and more women take on power positions, I know there will be change. To become engaged with more women in my field, I joined the Canadian Association of Women in Construction. Together, we work on many programming and educational events, raising funds to provide student bursary awards, and volunteering
PHOTO: HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
BY JULIE ZABIZEWSKI
annually with Habitat for Humanity. One of my professors in university continuously emphasized the importance of networking, and in my experience, I could not agree more; not only as a keystone for developing your career but also as a support system. The women I volunteer with have come from different sectors of the industry and are of varying ages, but we all share common goals of establishing ourselves, achieving career advancement and encouraging women into the lucrative field of construction, as opportunities are abundant. From my experience, it is important for women to lean in and get involved when opportunities present themselves. There is an unspoken pressure to stand out from our male counterparts. During the course of my career, I took on the additional assignment of establishing our company’s health and safety program and culture. Most recently, this involvement became very beneficial when we worked to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, and I spearheaded new health and safety protocols. These efforts led to a managerial role, which I am very proud to have achieved. Now at 35-years-old, having got to a point where I am thrilled to be celebrating my work achievements, I cannot help but look back at my other, more personal dream I had at the end of high school. Starting a family has never been more on my mind. It should be noted that the average age for pregnancy in Canada has been over 30 since 2010. I have always questioned how companies and our governments effectively support high achieving women who have focused their 20s on their careers and are starting families in their 30s. Having had these discussions with my industry colleagues, it is hard to look at the current system as anything but outdated. Employment Insurance (EI) in Canada covers 55 per cent of your earnings, to a maximum of $595 a week. This may benefit a woman in an entry level position, but certainly is a hard hit for a woman more advanced in her career making higher wages and possibly being the lead breadwinner for her home — especially when living in areas with a high cost of
living. This also assumes the woman has a partner to help offset costs, although many are trying to have children on their own. We live to a standard based on our income, so why would this change when we decide to start a family? To avoid penalizing women who find career success in their 20s, the benefits should reflect a percentage of earnings, not be capped at a weekly rate. As it is, to accept the loss of income, on top of the pressure to maintain career status and juggle motherhood, is incredibly discouraging. At the same time, in other industries, employer top-ups to EI for women on maternity leave are well established. Unfortunately, the same cannot yet be said for construction, which until recently, has not typically promoted women into leadership roles. My hope is that as more women join the ranks in positions with higher levels of authority, the more these gaps will close. I believe the construction
industry is moving in the right direction and I will continue to do my part to help accelerate this progress through leading by example and by continuing to encourage young women to explore their potential in this rewarding field. I would like to see governments and companies do the same by ensuring women have the proper support to start a family while also growing their careers.
Julie Zabizewski is a project manager and health & safety manager at Toronto, Ont-based Vestacon Ltd. She has managed numerous projects across Ontario and recently helped the firm adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. She held an executive role on the board for the Canadian Association of Women in Construction (CAWIC) and also volunteers for Habitat for Humanity Women Build and the Toronto Construction Association.
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IN THIS ISSUE: www.on-sitemag.com 26 Cleaner
concrete in sight as cement producers embrace innovation
CLEANER CONCRETE
CEMENTING CHANGE Lafarge, other cement producers innovating their way to low carbon concrete BY DAVID KENNEDY
26 / MARCH 2021
cement is put to use on building projects throughout eastern Canada. Contractors pouring the end product would never know the difference, but the new initiative could divert up to 80,000 tonnes of potlining from landfills and see it integrated into roughly a million tonnes of cement each year. The research and development effort has been years in the making. Like other
additives – fly ash and silica fume being a couple of the best known byproducts added to cement in Canada – Alextra will cut down on the need to mine or source raw materials to produce cement. The new initiative is just one small part of the wider recycling and reuse ecosystem at Geocycle. “We’re open to almost any waste, even hazardous waste, that we can recycle,” says
© V. J. MATTHEW / ADOBE STOCK
A
t a handful of smelters throughout Quebec, mining and metals giant Rio Tinto extracts pure aluminum metal from the oxide alumina. The process happens in electrolytic cells, known colloquially as pots, at roughly 1,000 C. Due to the prodigious amount of energy involved and repeated use, the lining that coats these pots eventually breaks down, resulting in a hazardous waste that’s typically been processed and then sent to landfills. A new project launched last fall, however, means tens of thousands of tonnes of treated potlining will find a second life in construction. Lafarge Canada and Geocycle Canada – both subsidiaries of LafargeHolcim – and Rio Tinto, announced the new circular economy project last October. After being processed into a product the companies call Alextra at Rio Tinto’s Potlining Treatment Plant in SaguenayLac-St Jean, Que., the revamped material makes its way to Lafarge’s cement production plant in Bath, Ontario. There, it’s used during clinker production as the required alumina material. The long chain comes to an end when concrete with Alextra-infused
Sophie Wu, head of Geocycle North America. There are just two requirements, she adds. “Waste that provides thermal energy, or can be ingredients of cement.” On the ingredient side, byproducts from industries across Canada that offer iron, silica, alumina, or lime to Lafarge’s raw mix are considered. Foundry sands, fluid cracking catalysts, slags, iron fines and mill scale are a few of the most common.
When it comes to thermal energy-producing waste, which replaces some of the coal or natural gas firing Lafarge’s kilns, Geocycle’s inputs run the gamut. Using a method known as co-processing, waste material such as biomass, recycled wood, spent tires and agricultural products that have no other uses are added to cement kilns. The energy they contain is consumed during the combustion process and some of
their minerals integrated into the resulting cement. Even items like used shampoo bottles that cannot be sent to landfills are put to use generating thermal energy, while the process also locks in their contaminants that could otherwise escape into soil or groundwater if the products reached landfills. One of the few restrictions is on waste that can be reused elsewhere. Wu notes the on-sitemag.com / 27
CLEANER CONCRETE
PHOTOS: LAFARGEHOLCIM
Left: The cement kiln at a Lafarge cement plant. The process emissions and thermal energy demands of cement produce the bulk of the CO2 emissions tied to concrete. Below: The Bath, Ont. Lafarge plant, where Alextra is being integrated into cement.
company makes a point of not competing with high grade recycling, and is more often than not “getting rid of peoples’ headaches.” From making use of approximately 3,000 tonnes of end-of-life tires at its Brookfield, N.S cement plant each year, to utilizing roughly 100,000 tonnes of waste typically bound for landfills each year at its facility in Richmond, B.C., co-processing has come to play an important role in trimming carbon dioxide emissions at Lafarge plants. Across its global operations since 1990, LafargeHolcim has reduced emissions by 25 per cent per tonne of cement produced. Getting to zero CO2 emissions is the company’s ultimate goal, though both practical and technical obstacles will need to be overcome. With the increased international focus on climate change, the wider cement industry is also working to slash emissions. Last fall, LafargeHolcim and the more than three dozen other large producers that make up
28 / MARCH 2021
the Global Cement and Concrete Association, signed a net zero “climate ambition” aiming for carbon neutral concrete by 2050. Canada, along with other regions around the world, are now putting together technology road maps to get to zero, says Adam Auer, vice-president of Environment & Sustainability at the Cement Association of Canada (CAC). If the industry hits its targets, the effect will be considerable. According to a commonly cited 2018 study from think tank Chatham House, roughly eight per cent of global CO2 emissions are tied to cement manufacturing. The combustion of fuels to make clinker, which requires heating kilns to approximately 1,500 C, is particularly energy intensive, accounting for about 30 per cent of emissions, Auer says. Process emissions, the result of chemical processes that take place in the kiln, account for the majority of the rest. To cut back across the board, companies are working on ways to reduce both the amount of clinker in
cement and the amount of cement in concrete. For its part, Lafarge Canada launched a new product range called ECOPact last November. The range offers a quantified reduction in CO2 of between 30 and 70 per cent, achieved by a process of mix design, optimization and material selection. The company is also working on and committed to launching a carbon neutral mix in the future. The wider industry is taking a similar route to lower carbon concrete and emerging carbon capture technologies, Auer says. Lehigh Cement, a unit of HeidelbergCement, for instance, launched a new line of cement called EcoCemPLUS last month. Produced at the company’s Edmonton plant through inter-grinding clinker, fly ash, limestone and gypsum, the mix is now available across the Canadian Prairies. It reduces emissions 22 per cent, compared to the company’s general use product. The producer also teamed up with the International CCS Knowledge Centre in 2019 and began mapping out a business case for carbon capture technology at its Edmonton plant. It is now working on engineering design, targeting late 2021 to complete the feasibility work. Across the Atlantic, it is already developing a full-scale capture and storage project at a cement plant in Norway. As the term implies, carbon capture does not prevent the initial release of CO2 but contains the emissions at the plant before they can escape. The CO2 can then be stored, or put to use for other purposes, though currently, options are limited. “At the moment, the only real economic use for it at scale is to store it either through enhanced oil recovery or through just straight up geologic storage,” Auer says, noting Canada hosts favourable conditions for both. To hit its mid-century climate pledge, as well as its intermediary CO2 reduction target of 20 per cent by 2030, LafargeHolcim sees carbon capture as a “must.” It is
CLEANER CONCRETE
PHOTO: LAFARGEHOLCIM
The low carbon fuel system at one of Lafarge’s cement plants.
experimenting with capture technologies in 20 separate pilot projects around the world, including one at the Richmond cement plant designed to capture flue gas typically released into the atmosphere. Auer sees carbon capture as the future of cement production. He expects costs for the technology to fall as advances are made and more uses for the captured carbon emerge. He points to synthetic fuel, carbon-based nanomaterials and even manufactured aggregates as a few examples of possible uses. “Using captured CO2 to create synthetic aggregates would replace the virgin aggregates that would normally go into concrete, avoiding both the quarrying of virgin aggregates but also sequestering all of that carbon,” he says. Bringing concrete’s carbon footprint to zero will not happen all at once, but momentum is building, driven by both producers and end users. “The majority of contractors are not there yet,” Wu says, but adds that leading builders, private owners and governments
30 / MARCH 2021
are pushing initiatives forward. Last summer, the Canadian government said it was considering setting mandatory minimum requirements for the procurement of low-carbon concrete. In a request for information, calling on the construction industry to weigh in on the feasibility of establishing a baseline for cleaner concrete, Ottawa said the eventual requirements would begin by mandating the use of concrete that relies on Portland Limestone Cement. Now readily available, PLC reduces emissions by up to 10 per cent. If the federal government moves ahead with the initiative, the targets would get more aggressive from there. Auer says the federal government is still working through its implementation process, but that he hopes to see PLC become the baseline for cement across the country. “PLC is kind of a no-brainer solution,” he says. “You can reduce your emissions by up to 10 per cent and it doesn’t cost you any more money and most importantly, it doesn’t preclude any of the other
decarbonization strategies that are coming online. So you can still use supplementary cementitious materials, you can still use these emerging mineralization technologies like CarbonCure and Solidia, and others that can basically be stacked on top of PLC.” The CAC estimates all three levels of governments buy up to half of all construction materials in Canada, either directly or indirectly, so momentum on the public side would go a long way. In the private sector, Auer says the association has been expecting demand for cleaner concrete to pick up for the past decade, but it is only recently that owners and buildings tenants are slowly becoming a force for change. Today, lower carbon mixes come at a premium, but the benefits of minimizing embodied carbon and developing CO2-neutral buildings have businesses showing more willingness to foot the added bill. In the not too distant future, low, or even net zero concrete, may be table stakes in Canadian construction.
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www.gomaco.com ❘ info@gomaco.com GOMACO offers the full range of concrete slipform pavers, curb and gutter machines, placer/spreaders, texture/cure machines and bridge/canal finishing equipment. GOMACO equipment features our exclusive and proprietary G+® control system, created in-house by our software engineers from the wants and needs of contractors paving in the field. We’ll show you the new Navigator controller with a 10-inch touchscreen that allows ground personnel to simply control and view all attachments from one location. We are also introducing our new high-production system for the C-450 cylinder finisher for bridge decks and flat slabs. At the heart of GOMACO equipment is our passion for concrete and our commitment to our customers. We look forward to visiting with you about your upcoming paving projects and your concrete paving equipment needs. CONCRETE STREETS AND HIGHWAYS ❘ AIRPORT RUNWAYS ❘ CURB AND GUTTER ❘ SIDEWALKS RECREATIONAL TRAILS ❘ SAFETY BARRIER ❘ BRIDGE PARAPET ❘ BRIDGE DECKS ❘ IRRIGATION CANALS GOMACO CORPORATION IN IDA GROVE, IOWA, USA ❘ 712-364-3347
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Concrete Momentum Precision, productivity and data collection capabilities coming together for concrete paver makers
With canadian contractors prepping for the spring construction season, the top concrete paving equipment manufacturers break down the latest tools crews could have at their disposal. More automation, telematics and emissions controls are all available as OEMS build in new enhancements
GOMACO Working to keep its pavers and control systems cutting-edge, Gomaco has stayed focused on adapting its G+ digital control system in recent years, building on the platform first introduced in 2011 while keeping it easy to understand and operate. The control system initially included features such as a display with a machine “run screen and control loop deviation meters, giving operators fine-tune grade and steer performance using a high-definition, multi-coloured bar graph meter which indicated machine deviations,” says Kevin Klein, vice-president of Engineering and Research & Development. “G+ has grown from there and continues to change and improve with each new version released,” he says. “We’ve expanded on all of those initial features of
the G+ and continued to improve them.” On the automation front, for instance, leg positioning with rotary-sensored slew drives on Gomaco four-track pavers send G+ information on the pivot arm position and work together with the track rotation sensors to maintain tracks in the straightahead steering line. “It also allows the tracks to steer farther than ever before and easily turn radii,” Klein says. Using software known as Navigator, G+ also keeps track of a range of available paving accessories – from tie bar inserters (TBI), side bar inserters (SBI) and power transition adjusters (PTA), as well as 3D and stringline systems and the Gomaco smoothness indicator (GSI). “The Navigator touchscreen can be mounted anywhere on the paver and allows
ground personnel the ability to fine-tune the paver’s performance and configure settings for the GSI, SBI, TBI, and PTA onboard the paver,” Klein says, adding that the onboard GSI, reads the smoothness profile of the new pavement using either a real-time localized roughness graph or a simulated California profilograph. Gomaco Remote Diagnostics, or GRD, covers the telematics on the company’s pavers. The platform gives contractors realtime analysis of their ride quality, letting them monitor the paver’s smoothness on their phone or laptop. “With [GRD], we can take a contractor request who is paving in Belgium, write the software in-house here in Ida Grove, Iowa, and send that program or update to the machine on-site in Belgium. Or Canada. Or Texas. Anywhere in the world,” Klein says. on-sitemag.com / 33
CONCRETE PAVING
GUNTERT & ZIMMERMAN 2020 may have been a long way from normal for the global construction equipment industry, Salima Ismaylova, the inside sales and marketing coordinator at Guntert & Zimmerman (G&Z) says, but it didn’t stop the progress at the heavy-duty highway and airport construction equipment manufacturer. “For the last two years our focus has been on upgrading all G&Z product line power units to Tier 4 Final engines due to the EPA emission standards regulations,” she says. “Multiple factors such as fuel efficiency, quality, and a reliable dealer network made us switch to the Cat engines of different capacity across all models.” In addition, the electrical and hydraulic filtration systems on G&Z pavers’ power units have been re-designed for ease of access, monitoring, troubleshooting and service, as well as to keep vibration isolated from the centre tractor module to improve component life and reduce noise. To help contractors keep as productive as possible and stay competitive by offering an aggressive paving schedule when bidding jobs, G&Z has set out to streamline the width change process, which is traditionally a time-consuming endeavour. Telescopic Paving Kit End Sections, or simply TeleEnds, let crews perform width
changes in less than two hours without needing to remove the paving kit, Ismaylova says. Unlike past solutions, which typically forced contractors to sacrifice smoothness for a speedier width change, the new innovation has no adverse effects on pavement smoothness. On the software side, G&Z has developed NoLine Software for its pavers capable of directly interfacing with third-party stringless offerings from Leica, Topcon and Trimble, saving contractors time on time on surveying, stake driving, string set-up, among other advantages. From a data tracking standpoint,
G&Z’s Equipment Guidance and Operation Network (EGON) Telematics system lets crews keep closer tabs on diagnostics, machine utilization, fuel consumption, performance and maintenance requirements. “Very often, our service team will know about an issue, failure or an impending problem in the equipment system before it comes to the attention of the operator on-site,” Ismaylova says. “If a problem does arise, our technicians look at the transmitted information and advise the crew on site what the trouble is, where it is located and how they can fix it.”
POWER CURBERS A new control system from Power Curbers & Power Pavers, is taking the company’s machines to the next level. Fred Bryan, vice-president of Sales for Power Curbers Companies, says the SlipSmart Control Solution has improved all aspects of slope controls, including draft and cross-slope. “We’ve also enhanced our machinery’s positioning valves with more refined movements to complement slope control advances,” he says. “These changes give the operator more precise, smooth control of the machine, which results in a higher-quality slipformed product.” Along with integrating seamlessly with 3D or stringless guidance systems from Leica, Topcon and Trimble, Power Curbers
34 / MARCH 2021
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has added a range of automated features to its slipformers aimed at simplifying the operator’s job. As a few examples, Bryan points to the electric rather than hydraulic vibrator control system, an automatic steering compensation system and smart vibration controls that let the operator monitor and set the target frequency of individual vibrators that the system will automatically increase or decrease hydraulic flow to maintain. On its four-track
WIRTGEN Productivity and precision have driven the design philosophy at Wirtgen from day-one, Tim Nash, director of Concrete Products for Wirtgen America says, adding that an ethos of continual improvement extends from the hardware to the rideability to the control system of its slipform pavers. Unsurprisingly, applying automation technology is one area of focus for the equipment maker in 2021 and beyond. Mobility features, on-site and job-tojob, are improving uptime and simplifying maneuverability, Nash says. Hydraulic leg
36 / MARCH 2021
pavers, the company also offers a steering mode selector that operates independently of stringless, stringline, or manual guidance, letting crews easily switch between front-steer or all-crawler paving, transport mode, 360-degree spin and crab crawl, among others. On the telematics front, Power Curbers has a number of units currently in the field helping contractors with asset management and remote diagnostics.
“We recognize the value in telematics solutions and will apply them wherever we can to aid operators, increase uptime, and provide utility to our customers,” Bryan says. “We believe developing our telematics solution will further these goals by simplifying troubleshooting with remote diagnostics, increasing uptime with predictive maintenance, and adding utility through machine locating and asset management.”
swing, 90-degree track turn and push-button counter rotation are a few examples of the technology available on Wirtgen pavers. They are far from the only ones. “When looking to the paving operation itself, the diverter plow in place of traditional augers has been a step in the right direction,” Nash says. “[It] not only gives operators quick and efficient control of material spreading with joystick control but this system can also be programmed for automated concrete spreading.” Among other popular features, Nash pointed to the exclusive automatic rear lift
feature, which mitigates stop/start roughness when concrete supply is insufficient resulting in smoother pavements and less hand work behind the paver, as being a favourite for finishing crews. On the sustainability side, Wirtgen offers Eco Drive on all its pavers. A computerized engine control, the system automatically controls engine RPM based on the functions that are engaged at any given time, saving on fuel consumption. “This saves the operator from manually having to raise/lower which in actual practice doesn’t get done often – operators typically leave the engine at 2100 RPM all day long despite periods of inactivity,” Nash says. WITOS, the firm’s proprietary telematics system has been standard on all Wirtgen pavers since 2016. It collects a huge range of data, from location and fuel consumption to production hours versus total engine hours. WITOS also lets operators create geo-fences and will bring more metrics tied to project scope as telematics technology and interfaces continue developing, Nash said.
ALLEN ENGINEERING With the overall aim of putting more precise and productive equipment in the hands of customers, Allen Engineering has introduced a new enhancement to its bridge deck finishers (BDFs). The patent pending feature fine-tunes how the machine advances and enables an easier movement transition for the paving carriage. In essence, a BDF advances when the carriage moves to the end of its cycle and
momentarily stops, Mark Conte, the sales director for Paving Equipment Products at Allen, says. While in the past, an operator had to increase the carriage speed to advance the machine travel, the latest upgrade has separated these functions. “What we did at Allen Engineering was separate those functions out so now the carriage speed and the machine advancement are on their own separate circuits,” Conte says. “Let’s say the carriage is
moving too fast and you’re getting a rough finish – you can dial that down now, without affecting the machine advancement travel rate.” “Similar to slipform paving, you never want that carriage to stop moving,” Conte says, adding that this is complicated by ready-mix deliveries, which as concrete crews all know, rarely play out as planned. With the functions separated, operators are able to get the desired finish, as well as match progress on-site to ready-mix delivery. Allen integrated the enhancement while making no changes to the operator’s console. As the name implies, the majority of these applications are bridge decks, but the company’s BDFs are also put to use on road and airport paving projects. Allen continues to work on a range of other innovations to add to its product lines.
on-sitemag.com / 37 OnSite_Stellar_March21.indd 1
2021-02-19 2:10 PM
TIRES
CARRYING THE
LOAD
BY NATE HENDLEY
T
wo main factors are influencing tire trends when it comes to wheel loaders and articulated dump trucks (ADTs): the growing popularity of tire monitoring technology and the rapid evolution of construction equipment in general.
38 / MARCH 2021
“The trend for articulated trucks is for more horsepower, which leads to certain benefits and challenges for tire manufacturers,” says Shawn Rasey, director of Global Business Development for Earthmoving Tires at Continental Tire. “Horsepower is going up, load capacity on
Radial tires offer improved traction, comfort and tread life versus other pneumatic solutions and are recommended for ADTs.
trucks is going up. They are getting bigger and they’re getting more horsepower and the same thing is happening on loaders. Loader bucket sizes are getting bigger and there’s more horsepower.” Increased weight, power and speed can cause a build up of heat on vehicle
PHOTO: MICHELIN
Advances in tires keeping pace with other equipment improvements
severe applications have started to turn to tires that eliminate downtime due to flat tires – i.e., solid tires. A growing segment for loaders, solid tires offer no downtime, long wear life and stability, Brock says. Deeper tread depths and tires that have reduced rolling resistance are also trending. “Tire manufacturers are coming out with new, innovative tread designs… Manufacturers like Goodyear have improvements not only to the tread but the casing strength,” Foley says. Given such developments, industry experts say it’s vital to heed expert advice when selecting tires for wheel loaders and articulated dump trucks. “Generally speaking, if you’re thinking about adding new equipment, you really need to consult with your tire dealer. Do you have the right tires for your applications? Because [the equipment] can be changing and evolving,” Rasey says.
solutions that improve tire performance – is another growing trend in construction circles. Continental Tire was a pioneer in this burgeoning field, Rasey says. “We re-launched our off-highway earthmover products in August 2016, and from the very first tire we manufactured at the facility, we’ve put a sensor in every tire,” he says. “We were the first off-highway, off-the-road company putting sensors in every tire from the factory.” Continental currently offers a solution called ContiPressureCheck. Sensors in a rubber housing mounted to the inner liner of the tire continuously measure tire temperature and air pressure. This data is relayed to a dashboard display unit in
PHOTO: CONTINENTAL
tires, which is why experts recommend radial tires over bias. “We’re at a point today where there’s very, very few bias tire applications on articulated trucks,” Rasey says. “It’s attributable to the way articulated trucks have evolved over time… Broadly speaking, a radial tire has much greater capability in dissipating heat. A bias tire would tend to heat up a bit more than a radial tire would.” Gary Foley, director of Off-the-Road (OTR) Store Operations for dealer and service provider Fountain Tire, has also noted the momentum behind radial tires. “Loaders don’t only load any more – they carry a lot of material longer distances in certain operations,” he says. “Weight, speed, and distance require a radial tire that can dissipate the heat better. The same with articulated trucks applies.” With a lower initial price point, stability and sidewall toughness, Justin Brock, senior marketing manager for Michelin North America, says bias tires remain a common choice for loaders, but adds radial are very popular as well. “Radial tires are designed to improve traction, comfort, decrease downtime and increase tread life versus other pneumatic solutions,” Brock says, adding that for ADTs he also recommends radial. “For speed and distance, the recommendation is radial.”
GOING SMART Intelligent or smart tire technology – which can be loosely defined as high-tech
In addition to familiarizing themselves with equipment manufacturing trends, contractors should keep a checklist in mind before purchasing tires, Brock says. He offers some points to ponder: What size and type of tire, and which tread pattern and tread compound/depth are best-suited for your equipment and load? What are the main reasons for tire removal at your work site and what are your tire maintenance practises like? What kind of weather and ground conditions will your wheel loaders and ADTs be operating in? Does your work site feature a hard surface or is it mostly off-road? Will your vehicles have to contend with snow, mud, dirt, sand, gravel, or a mix of these elements? Contractors who use equipment in
PHOTO: FOUNTAIN TIRE
MAKING CHOICES
The Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) made by Goodyear tracks data that helps dealers make recommendations to contractors.
on-sitemag.com / 39
There is a big push in the construction industry towards optimization and getting more out of the machine... Tires will play an important part of this evolution.”
– Justin Brock, Michelin
the cab. The system can be augmented to allow the remote monitoring of tire information on a web portal, at company offices or elsewhere. If any deviation from optimal air pressure and temperature is detected, the system issues an alert. Drivers and contractors will know instantly if their tires are overheating or losing air pressure and can take immediate remedial action. In this manner, accidents are averted while safety, handling, performance and tire longevity are enhanced. “In the event of irregularity, alerts are displayed in real-time [on Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems], showing which tires are affected and the degree of urgency. We work with a few different companies that provide that level of technology,” Foley says. Fountain is currently testing a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) made by Goodyear. The system in question
40 / MARCH 2021
boosts safety and fuel economy while reducing carbon dioxide emissions and braking distance, according to Goodyear. “We track about 12,000 tires or more in our Goodyear tracking system from various off-road customers, not just construction,” Foley says. “It helps us make recommendations or selections when working with contractors.” Michelin has also developed a sensorbased Tire Care TPMS solution for work vehicles that monitors tire temperature and pressure. Michelin’s Tire Care fleet tire management program, meanwhile, involves “comprehensive tire evaluation and analysis” by company technicians, Brock says. Electronic data captured during Michelin Tire Care inspections can be uploaded and viewed online by clients. Regardless of the technology or products involved, maintaining air pressure is probably the most important part of any tire management program. “The air is what
carries the load,” Foley says. Given this, contractors shouldn’t entirely abandon “old school” maintenance practices in the face of new, cutting-edge solutions. “The key is regularly checking your air pressure. Along with that, doing a fleet inspection and a walkaround at the beginning of each shift is also quite important,” Rasey says. “You do that to see if any serious cuts have developed in the tire… You’ll also be looking to make sure the rim hardware and the wheel doesn’t have any cracks – things that could be potential safety issues.” As for the future, it’s a safe bet that wheel loaders and ADTs, like other construction vehicles, will continue to become speedier, more powerful and more connected. Tires will be expected to keep pace with these developments. “There is a big push in the construction industry towards optimization and getting more out of the machine. OEMs are looking at autonomous equipment, electric machines, and equipment [with advanced connectivity]… Tires will play an important part of this evolution,” Brock says. “Tires will have to be able to meet the growing needs and changes in the equipment. Customers are depending on a tire that does more. And by more, I mean more versatility under varying conditions.”
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SOFTWARE
By Jacob Stoller
The road to autonomy
Fully autonomous heavy construction equipment is still years away, but technology developers have overcome some major hurdles, providing significant opportunities for contractors
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quipment vendors have dazzled us recently with high resolution Star Wars-like videos of driverless earth moving machines going through their paces. The hope is that such technology, already proven in mining, will soon help ease the growing shortage of skilled equipment operators in the construction industry. Construction sites, however, present machines with considerably more variability than mines, and consequently, the dream of fully automated excavating and earth moving operations is, vendors say, at least five years away. On the other hand, autonomy is not an all-or-nothing proposition – contractors can benefit today from some significant advances. “An autonomous car picking you up from your home and taking you to a store and back is not happening overnight,” says Luca Delgrossi, head of technology for Volvo Automation Solutions, “but for construction, I think that news looks much much better. With the technology we have today, we are able to overcome many of the problems.” Volvo, for example, now offers a driverless 15-tonne-capacity electric hauling truck that automatically travels to a station when it’s time to recharge. What’s significant about these vehicles is that they interact safely with manually-operated wheel loaders, providing a level of interoperability that will be key as more autonomous equipment shows up on job sites. “There will be a day when the wheel loaders will also be automated,” says Delgrossi, “but the important thing is that today, we already have a collaboration between a manually operated machine and an automated machine. And the automated machine is designed and operates in a way that makes it completely safe for the human operator operating the wheel loader to be around that autonomous machine.” Machines are also getting much better at autonomous excavation. Automated control on dozers is nothing new, of course – what’s changed is that improved automation has extended this control to many more earth moving scenarios. “Because of the sensors that we’re placing on the machine,” says Michael Salyers, senior product manager at Komatsu America, “we’re able to determine what’s happening with the body of the machine whenever the blade of a dozer loads up, or how the machine responds when it has a load of material or hits a very hard area like some rock. So the machine can mimic what an experienced operator with years of experience does.” This higher sensitivity means autonomous control systems are no longer limited to finished grading, but can take on tougher digging operations. Consequently, on a typical shift, autonomous blade control can be active 80 per cent of the time, as opposed to
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the 10 or 15 per cent that was previously possible in many cases. This frees the operator to engage in value-added activity such as coordinating with trucks and planning the sequence of digging operations.
IMPROVED INFORMATION SYSTEMS Another area of progress is the handling of complex instructions. In a video released in 2019, for example, Doosan Infracore demonstrated an autonomous excavator working from a multi-layer drone survey. Artificial intelligence was a key component – as the narrator notes, machine learning allowed the control system to be trained directly experienced operators. “The technology is here today that allows equipment functions to be autonomous,” says Aaron Kleingartner, product and dealer marketing manager for Doosan Infracore North America. “The intelligence level the equipment needs to be truthfully autonomous will be what changes the game over the next decade.” Creating strong links between the work in the field and 3D BIM models will be key to this progression, Kleingartner notes. Intelligent equipment will also provide better information for decision makers. Site managers will be able monitor progress in real time and prioritize tasks accordingly, or a control system might gather evidence that the conditions on the ground differ from what’s specified in the contract, documenting a case that extra compensation is justified. “That data flow is becoming more and more commonplace,” Salyers says, “where we can take information being collected by the machine, bring it back in the office and see it in real time.” That rapid exchange of data is expected to increase dramatically when 5G cellular technology becomes widely available on Canadian job sites.
THE ROAD AHEAD While equipment that is completely autonomous will appear only gradually on construction sites, some of the toughest technical challenges have already been met, leading to some promising business cases. Deployment of emerging solutions won’t solve construction’s labour shortage overnight, but it can demonstrably improve the productivity of existing skilled workers. It can also help contractors attract younger, increasingly tech-oriented workers to the profession.
Jacob Stoller is principal of StollerStrategies. Send comments to editor@on-sitemag.com
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RISK
By David Bowcott
Calibrating solutions to your problems: The first and most important step is data collection
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of a sound data strategy for your company and your projects. he world of construction and infrastructure is beginning Of note, you should not just collect the data on those events to harness the power of its data to improve industry that are covered by insurance. You should be collecting data from outcomes. Several of the most progressive designers, all incidents that lead to a loss – whether it is something your contractors and owners have begun to consolidate the insurance will pick up the bill for, or not. Further, you might even many sources of data within their organizations and within the consider collecting data on “near misses” or events where no loss projects or assets of which they are stakeholders. When this data was suffered but a loss could have suffered if not for luck or quick is co-mingled property it allows these companies to make better remedial actions. decisions. Effectively, these companies are putting themselves To begin this journey of collecting incident and claims data in a position to better calibrate the solutions to their problems most effectively within your organization and on the projects that and to measure the impact of each calibration against data from you are involved in, a strong first future problems. Any deviation from step is investigating the various Getting to this stage requires methodologies and/or technologies continual improvement, with your a projected [KPI] within you use to capture, aggregate, orgafirst, and perhaps most important, step focusing on collecting the data your organization means that some nize and display such data. There are many very strong technologies that will best identify the problems available that are user-friendly and your organization faces. form of problem occurred that can organize and display this data This problem data set can come prevented your firm from meeting quite effectively, allowing you to from many sources. In fact, any devibuild a clean and consistent set of ation from a projected key perforthe project KPI as intended. Thus, data with strong/standardized root mance indicator (KPI) within your cause of loss capture. Some of these organization means that some form the source of those problems solutions are part of larger software of problem occurred that prevented packages, such as Procore, Viewpoint your firm from meeting the project should be collected, organized and Autodesk Build. Others, such as KPI as intended. Thus, the source of and analyzed.” Origami, Aclaimant, or Riskonnect, those problems should be collected, are housed within individual inciorganized and analyzed. dent/claims capture applications. You need to create a procureOne of the greatest sources of problem data is from the ment process to identify all your best options and determine insurance sector. Insurance claims are a clear source of problem which incident/claims capture solution is ideal for you. data in that something has occurred within your organization, or By orienting your company to better capture and organize your on your job site, which has caused you a loss – hence why you problem data, you will have taken the first steps down the larger are seeking indemnification by making a claim against one of path of creating a strong data strategy for your organization. The your insurance policies. By effectively capturing your claims data days of moving from one project to another and not holding on to you can identify those events that are causing you losses. Put all the data created from that project are gone. For the industry to more simply, you are collecting some of the problems facing your truly improve its productivity, it needs to more effectively collect organization. all the data from all its projects. Ideally, you would also want to A vital ingredient from this claims data is what is called the collect all the data from all the stakeholders on all your projects root cause of loss information related to the claim. It is one thing – that data set would be truly impactful to your organization and to know that you had a claim and it cost you $25,000 to cover would lead you to a destination of better decision making and the deductible and your insurance company paid $2.8 million greater productivity. above that deductible. It is something entirely more powerful to know that the total claim of $2.9 million dollars was caused by water damage due to faulty workmanship of a mechanical subconDavid Bowcott is Global Director – Growth, Innovation & Insight, tractor in some of the bathrooms at a new multi-family high-rise Global Construction and Infrastructure Group at Aon Risk you are constructing. That added level of detail is the root cause Solutions. Please send comments to editor@on-sitemag.com. of loss data and it is gold when it comes to laying the foundation
44 / MARCH 2021
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2019-03-05 11:19 AM
CONTRACTORS & THE LAW
By Yvan Houle
Easy to be hard: Cruel and unusual punishment and corporations
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ontractors and subcontractors in Quebec are familiar with the province’s licensing regime under the Building Act, which requires them to hold a valid licence to carry out construction work. Contractors and subcontractors must establish that they are properly qualified and if so, the Régie du Bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) will issue a renewable licence allowing them to legally execute construction work for the duration of the license. The Building Act makes it an offence to carry out work without the requisite license and provides for minimal fines in the event that a person or a corporation is found guilty of the offence. In the case of a corporation a minimum fine of $35,041 is stipulated with a maximum of $175,206. Whether this statutory minimum fine runs contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ protection from cruel and unusual punishment was considered by the Supreme Court of Canada last fall in Quebec (Attorney general) v. 9147-0732 Québec Inc. Although the case arose in the context of the Quebec licensing regime, the Supreme Court’s decision has significant ramifications for all jurisdictions.
The Building Act makes it an offence to carry out work without the requisite license and provides for minimal fines in the event that a person or a corporation is found guilty of the offence.” THE FACTS 9147-0732 Québec Inc., a cabinet maker and supplier, contracted with a couple for the supply of cabinets to be installed in their new residence. The work was completed and dully paid. The contractor did not have the requisite license from the RBQ and was charged with the statutory offense under the Building Act. It was subsequently found guilty and fined the then minimum fine of $30,843. In addition to challenging the conviction on technical grounds, the contractor based his challenge of the conviction and the minimum statutory fine on Section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which provides that: “Everyone has the right not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.” The contractor argued the fine is excessive, could push contractors to bankruptcy and is, as a consequence, disproportionate in view of the nature of what was a submitted to be a “technical” breach of the Act. The contractor’s position raised a threshold question whether
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corporations, as opposed to individuals or persons, benefit from the protection provided by Section 12 of the Charter. In first instance, the Quebec Court rejected the contractor’s challenge and held the protection granted by S.12 of the Charter applied only to humans and that the minimum corporate fine was far from being cruel and unusual and, in fact, represented the norm in penal regulatory law in Quebec. The application to have the decision reviewed was similarly dismissed by the Superior Court, which found S.12 protects human dignity which is inherent to “natural persons” and thus the protection does not extend to corporations. A majority of the Court of Appeal of Quebec found rather that S. 12 can apply to corporations. Relying on the fact other Charter provisions that also protect human dignity, such as sections 8 and 11(b), have been found to properly apply to corporations. Because corporations can face cruel and unusual treatment or punishment through harsh or severe fines, S.12 provided the contractor with Charter protection. It ordered the case be returned to the Court of Quebec to decide whether the minimum fine at issue amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. Quebec’s attorney general then sought and obtained leave to appeal the matter to the Supreme Court. Although the Supreme Court justices differed on the principles governing constitutional interpretation and the place that foreign and international sources can or should be relied upon for the purposes of constitutional interpretation, the Court, adopting a purposive interpretation of the Charter’s section, considered the various arguments raised by the parties and ultimately held that the S.12 protection applies only to humans and not corporations. The Court recognized corporations are unquestionably entitled to robust legal protection whether it be constitutional or otherwise. In the end however, despite prior Supreme Court decisions that excessive fines can constitute cruel and unusual punishment, the Court determined the fact that corporations do not possess “human dignity or the ability to experience psychological or physical pain and suffering” puts them outside the scope of S.12. In a context where statutory and regulatory oversight of construction activity is expanding throughout the country, contractors and subcontractors should be mindful of complying with the requirements of the various regimes, lest they be faced with the consequences of what they may view as excessive fines.
Full citations to all works cited are available in the online version of this column. Although care has been taken to ensure accuracy, this article should not be relied upon as legal advice. Yvan Houle is a partner in Borden Ladner Gervais LLP’s Construction Group in Montreal.
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