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Roadbuilding

May 15, 2013

Provincial road funding requires close eye: ORBA

Despite the continued commitment toward public infrastructure funding that was shown in the recent Ontario budget, the province’s road building industry still has some questions about the government’s ability to deliver on all of its spending announcements.

April 30, 2013

Structal-Bridges lands $60-million contracts

Structal-Bridges, a division of Canam Group Inc., has secured two large contracts totaling close to $60 million for the fabrication of steel structures that will replace bridges in Newfoundland and Labrador and Massachusetts.

April 22, 2013

United States saved $2.2 billion in paving costs thanks to new practices, finds NAPA

Taxpayers in the United States saved over $2.2 billion during the 2011 paving season as a result of adopting sustainable construction practices, according to the Nation Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA).

April 17, 2013

St. Lawrence bridge project is progressing on track

Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Denis Lebel continued his consultation process as he met with mayors from the Montreal and Monteregie regions recently to discuss the new bridge for the St. Lawrence.

April 5, 2013

NRC continues search for the Holy Grail of bridge design

In terms of civil engineering, it verges on the quest for the Holy Grail.

April 4, 2013

RFQ released for Phase 2 of Highway 407 East project

Phase 2 of the Highway 407 East project is set to get underway and Infrastructure Ontario has released its request for qualifications to pre-qualify and shortlist project teams.

March 11, 2013

Construction crews take apart “Big Becky”

Just as crowds were cheering at the breakthrough ceremony of Ontario Power Generation’s Niagara Tunnel Project 18 months ago, engineers and crews at Western Mechanical Electrical Millwright Services Ltd. of Barrie, Ont. were arriving at the site, devising a plan to remove the cutter face of the project’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). Known by construction crews as “Big Becky,” after the Sir Adam Beck hydroelectric generating station, the unit remains the largest hard rock TBM ever built.

March 5, 2013

Association activity is rewarding: incoming CCA chair

For incoming Canadian Construction Association (CCA) chair Frank Rizzardo, the entrepreneurial and community-minded president and general manager of Emcon Services Inc. of Merritt, B.C., participating in association activities has proven to be a rewarding experience.

February 28, 2013

Night work key to Halifax bridge work

Replacing a bridge deck is a complex engineering task at the best of times. By limiting the scope of work to nights while opening the bridge to traffic during days serves to complicate an already complex job.

February 26, 2013

The turbulence of remote airport runway rehabs

Airports are a vital lifeline in the far north and more remote areas of this country where there are few or no road and train connections. When it comes to rehabilitating the runways of those airports, the challenges are complex and formidable.

February 26, 2010

University labs look at pulling solar heat from asphalt roads

A team of scientists from three universities — University of Rhode Island, Brown University in Providence Rhode Island and the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth — have a short list of four ideas ranging from simple to complex to harvest solar power from asphalt.

February 26, 2010

Truck-mounted laser finds, maps and assesses road condition

A new tool to help engineers make decisions about resurfacing or replacing roads is coming to Ontario this summer.

February 26, 2010

Bridge work kicks off Windsor-Essex Parkway

Initial construction of the Windsor-Essex Parkway has been completed, with Windsor’s Facca Construction Inc. wrapping up bridge and noise barrier work on the $15.5-million contract in January.

February 26, 2010

Environment Canada mandates cleaner diesel engines for non-road construction vehicles

An interim order issued by Environment Canada in December 2010 permits the import of non-road vehicles outfitted with cleaner Interim Tier 4 (IT4) diesel engines.

February 26, 2010

Queen Elizabeth Way widening a large, complex project

Not only is it the most expensive and largest conventionally tendered project by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO), the $153-million widening of the Queen Elizabeth Way in St. Catharines, Ont. may also be one of its most challenging.

February 26, 2010

EZ Street Canada develops asphalt mix for use in extreme cold

Hot mix is often the asphalt of choice for paving projects, but EZ Street Canada is aiming to take a bite out of the market with a cold asphalt paving mix that can be applied without heating at temperatures ranging from minus 18C to 38C.

February 26, 2010

Highway 69 expansion hits an environmental roadblock

The Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling on a British Columbia mine has roadblocked the widening of Ontario’s Highway 69.

February 26, 2010

Oshawa mayor fights to speed up highway 407 eastward extension

A campaign to extend Highway 407 from Brock Road in Pickering to Highways 35/115 in one continuous phase continues to snowball, says Oshawa Mayor John Henry.

February 26, 2010

Edmonton to deal with ‘bumper crop’ of potholes

The City of Edmonton is busy fixing potholes and expects to do more repairs in 2011 than in other years.

February 26, 2010

First overhead animal crossing planned for Highway 69 widening

A wildlife bridge set for Highway 69 will save both humans and animals and is the first of its kind in Ontario.

February 26, 2010

Major upgrade planned for downtown artery in Kitchener

The Regional Municipality of Waterloo is finalizing plans to widen and upgrade one of Kitchener’s major downtown arteries, Weber Street.

February 26, 2010

MTO likes seven-year pavement warranty program

The Ministry of Transportation Ontario says its seven-year pavement warranty program — the only program of its kind in North America — will provide an ongoing model for future paving contracts.

February 26, 2010

Challenging repairs on seven kilometre stretch of Forks of the Credit Road in Caledon, Ontario

The challenges of reconstructing and stabilizing the Forks of the Credit Road in Caledon are almost as awe-inspiring as the scenery.

February 26, 2010

Detroit’s Bagley Street pedestrian bridge uses unique cable-stayed design

Detroit’s signature Bagley Street pedestrian bridge for years was an under-the-radar project that, when completed, took local residents and motorists by surprise.