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October 14, 2008

Vanbots drives ahead at UOIT Automotive Centre of Excellence

Works begins to take shape for the new Automotive Centre of Excellence at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) in Oshawa, Ont.

October 14, 2008

McGillivray brings ‘pipe bursting’ technology to Ontario

McGillivray & Sons Contractors Ltd. of Kitchener is the first company in Ontario to employ “pipe bursting” technology to replacing existing sewer, watermain or gas lines without digging up the entire length of the replaced pipe section.

October 10, 2008

Oklahoma Transportation Commission approves $4-billion infrastructure improvement program

The Oklahoma Transportation Commission approved a $4 billion program this week to improve roads, replace 449 deficient bridges and finish relocating downtown’s busy, trouble-prone Crosstown Expressway.

October 9, 2008

Massive ‘medical city’ being built in Shanghai

Toronto-based Perkins Eastman Black Architects has master planned what is being billed as the biggest, “greenest” medical centre in the world: a vast, single, contiguous district devoted to health and wellness.

October 8, 2008

Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating signs memorandum of understanding with Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada

The Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating (CIPH) and the Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada (MCAC) have signed a memorandum of understanding that paves the way for increased exchange of information on items of common concern.

October 6, 2008

PCR Contractors expands University of Windsor Human Kinetics Building

Work moves along on the expansion of the University of Windsor Human Kinetics Building.

October 6, 2008

Two workers injured in separate accidents on Ontario’s Skyway Bridge

The Garden City Skyway bridge in St. Catharine’s, Ontario was the site of two work accidents six days apart. The Ontario labour ministry is investigating both incidents.

October 3, 2008

Anthony Henday Drive ring road garners Canadian Design-Build Institute award

The Canadian Design-Build Institute (CDBI) will present its annual Design-Build Award of Excellence for a transportation project in Edmonton, the first of its type to win the award.

October 3, 2008

Firms reach settlement with family of Big Dig casualty

The family of a woman killed when a Big Dig tunnel ceiling collapsed has settled a wrongful death lawsuit for more than US$28 million, lawyers told The Associated Press.

October 3, 2008

Cancelled Vancouver Olympic projects leave some communities frustrated

How the tale of the two cities hosting the 2010 Olympics will end is anyone’s guess, with many predicting the legacy will be a mix of the best and worst of times.

October 1, 2008

New England and eastern Canada consider collaboration on power projects

With fuel prices soaring, energy was the hot topic at a recent meeting of governors from energy-hungry New England states and leaders in eastern Canada, where there’s a surplus of energy.

October 1, 2008

Wage dispute prompts Golden Ears bridge project workers to walk off the job

A group of temporary foreign workers from Serbia walked off the job at the Golden Ears bridge construction project, after not being paid by a European sub-contractor.

October 1, 2008

British Columbia puts up $10 million for assessment of Highway 37 power line

At the same time as a report was released last week that said building a power line in northwest B.C. could spark mining development and create thousands of jobs, Premier Gordon Campbell said the province was taking the first step in bringing power along the Highway 37 corridor.

October 1, 2008

Subsurface Utility Engineering boosts efficiency, roads seminar hears

Innovative construction practices and techniques on highway and streets projects can minimize costs, traffic congestions and reduce friction with the travelling public or adjacent property owners, participants at the recent Transportation Association of Canada annual conference and exhibition were told.

October 1, 2008

Crews work to stabilize Sea-to-Sky route after rock slide

A rock slide that blocked the Sea-to-Sky Highway between Whistler and Vancouver for several days has led to a rock stabilization project along the route.

September 30, 2008

McKay-Cocker Construction makes concrete progress on Hanwha plant

McKay-Cocker Construction Ltd. began design-build work on the Hanwha building in April 2008 for owner Hanwha L & C Canada Inc. Completion is scheduled for the end of 2008.

September 30, 2008

Metrolinx outlines regional transportation priorities

The backbone of Metrolinx’s regional transportation improvement plan is the MoveOntario 2020 $11.5 billion commitment from the province, coupled with previously announced project funding announcements.

September 30, 2008

Atom collider facility faces two-month repair

The world’s largest atom smasher — which was launched with great fanfare earlier this month — has been damaged twice and will be out of commission for at least two months, the facility’s operator, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, says.

September 30, 2008

Asphalt recycling breaks new ground, expert says

From experiments exploring the possibility of using asphalt shingles for highway construction to full-depth asphalt reclamation, the construction industry and its academic and consulting engineering partners are breaking ground in the recycling of old materials for new projects.

September 29, 2008

Aecon wins $19-million contract for Huntsville-area stretch of Highway 11

Aecon Group Inc. has been awarded a $19.1-million contract by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to reconstruct a five-kilometre stretch of Highway 11 near Huntsville, Ont.

September 26, 2008

EnCana and partner to expand Illinois refinery

EnCana Corp. and partner ConocoPhillips are starting construction this month on a US$3.6 billion expansion at their joint venture Wood River refinery in Roxana, Ill.

September 26, 2008

Asphalt energy is heating up

We’ve all seen bad old movies in which an obscure scientist, labouring by himself to develop an idea, suddenly sees it unfold before him with astonishing clarity.

September 25, 2008

Thirty-day limit to bid-approvals process draws support from CCA members

The Canadian Construction Association (CCA) needs to look at getting owners to use bid approval processes of no longer than 30 days, say some of its members.

September 25, 2008

Roche NCE study recommends site for proposed Ottawa-Gatineau bridge

A preferred site has been chosen for a new bridge over the Ottawa River connecting the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau.

September 24, 2008

Nouvelle Autoroute 30, S.E.N.C. signs 35-year partnership agreement

The Governments of Canada and Quebec have signed a 35-year partnership agreement with Nouvelle Autoroute 30, S.E.N.C. for the design, construction, financing, operation, maintenance and repair of Highway 30.

September 24, 2008

Energy Quest joins energy-from-waste venture in Romania

Energy Quest Inc., a Canadian company, is entering into a joint-venture agreement with COFAMM of Romentino, Italy to construct a 20 MW power gasification plant in Romania.

September 24, 2008

Scoudouc sewer project begins

Construction has begun on an extended sanitary sewer line and expanded lagoon for Scoudouc, New Brunswick residents.

September 22, 2008

Wal-Mart transforms urban Vancouver building into newest retail location

The Grandview Highway Wal-Mart in Vancouver is scheduled to open in 2009 and will be the first store that the company has not owned, but renovated, in Canada.

September 22, 2008

OGCA urges Infrastructure Ontario to “meet its full mandate”

Infrastructure Ontario needs to expand its expand its horizons and undertake projects outside of the healthcare sphere, says Ontario General Contractors Association president (OGCA) Clive Thurston.

September 19, 2008

Korky Koroluk: Study shows Canada’s infrastructure needs $200 billion in investment

The present federal election campaign was only two days old when I saw statements from construction industry groups emphasizing the importance of more money for infrastructure repair, replacement and expansion.

September 19, 2008

North Edmonton ring road rolls on

Excavation work is well under way on the North Edmonton Ring Road.

September 19, 2008

Aquatech crews perform ‘bypass operation’

A crew from Aquatech unload pipe to be used in a sanitary sewer line bypass at Highway 7 and the Rouge River.

September 18, 2008

Ottawa’s transit plan runs into roadblock

Since the National Capital Commission already allows Ottawa city buses to travel on the Ottawa River Parkway, it was assumed by many that it would also allow a rail line to be built along the same corridor. But the NCC has demurred, saying that trains are more intrusive than buses.

September 17, 2008

Passivhaus technology offers evidence of Europe’s green revolution

They may be passive, but buildings built to rigorous Passivhaus standards for low energy use in Germany, Austria and elsewhere across Europe are anything but passive when it comes to having a small carbon footprint.

September 16, 2008

Highway Bridge Program ignores largest, most deficient structures, report finds

Many of the largest and most seriously deficient bridges in the U.S. aren’t getting fixed because a federal program funding bridge repairs is unfocused and lacks sufficient standards, congressional investigators say.

September 15, 2008

Inquest scheduled in roofer’s death in Innisfil, Ontario

The Regional Supervising Coroner for Central Region, Guelph Office, has announced that an inquest will be held into the death of roofer Michael Suto in 2006.