Category
Engineering
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Ontario’s Construction Lien Act review – What does it mean for consulting engineers?
Interview with Bruce R. Reynolds and Sharon Vogel of Borden Ladner Gervais, authors of a report on changing the legal regime for construction projects in Ontario. Their 100 recommendations include establishing a 28-day limit on subcontractor payments.
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Manitoba joins New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA)
Manitoba has joined the three other Western Canada provinces to create a large, barrier-free trade and labour market — one that catches consulting engineering services within its purview. B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and now Manitoba are all part of the New…
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Pierre Lassonde Pavilion wins jury favourite in Quebec steel awards
CISC-ICCA gives awards to 11 projects from over 80 entries
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Acoustic detection installed in 50-km of water pipeline in Lake Huron system
Installation is part of $177-million program of “HELP Clean Water” collaboration of City of London, Lake Huron and Lake Erie.
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Siemens and Bentley Systems to integrate technologies
Siemens and Bentley Systems have formed an alliance to accelerate the digitalization of infrastructure projects and asset management. Siemens, an engineering power and technology manufacturer, and Bentley, a software developer and provider, will initially invest Euro 50 million in developing…
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Federal government solicits big investors for infrastructure bank
Consulting engineering firms will be busy with infrastructure projects in the coming years if the Liberal government’s plans for a Canadian Infrastructure Bank bear fruit. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and several cabinet ministers had a prolonged meeting with big investor…
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ACEC conference hears how global trends are shaping construction activity
Presentations at the first National leadership conference in Ottawa offer wide ranging views on construction trends, the Liberal government, and whether it’s wise to build big bridges.
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ASHRAE issues new Energy Standard 90.1
ASHRAE has published a revised version of its energy standard 90.1. The new version includes many technical changes as well as new formatting
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Old buildings in Vancouver still need seismic upgrades
The Province newspaper in B.C. published a lengthy investigative article on October 20 about the risks to older buildings in Vancouver should there be a major earthquake. Entitled “B.C. Earthquake threatens Vancouver buildings,” the article by Gordon Hoekstra says that…
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Waterloo region adding cogeneration at three sewage treatment plants
CH2M is the prime consultant on a project by the Region of Waterloo in southern Ontario to add cogeneration to three of its sewage treatment plants. The cogeneration facilities will use the biogas given off from the treatment process to…
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ACEC/AFIC presents Beaubien Award to Rejean Breton of BBA
At the Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards gala in Ottawa on October 25, ACEC presented three awards to individuals. The 2016 Beaubien Award for lifetime achievement was presented to Réjean Breton, Eng., cofounder of consulting engineering firm BBA, which has its…
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Press here – Canadian government to require contractor fingerprints for some projectss
Consultants who are contracted to work on federal government projects that require security clearances will be pressing their fingerprints anytime soon. As reported by Engineers Canada in its latest newsletter, the RCMP is changing its process for the Contract Security…
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Naturalization of Toronto’s Don River and flood protection to cost more
Waterfront Toronto has released an extensive Due Diligence Report on the proposed Port Lands Flood Protection Project. The plan provides “greater certainty” regarding the costs, schedule and risks of a project to naturalize the lands around the Don River mouth.…
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Consulting Engineers of Ontario discusses contract language and other hot issues at Queen’s Park
Twenty representatives and staff of Consulting Engineers of Ontario met with government officials on October 17. The event was CEO’s 2nd Annual Queen’s Park Day at the Ontario Legislature in Toronto. They had meetings with representatives of several portfolios: the…
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CanBIM conference speaker envisions computers doing design
The head of research at Autodesk sees an era coming where designers can simply input their end goals into a computer and leave the technology to come up with the best design
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Efforts to capture CO2 emissions from coal reach new level in Texas
Retrofit of generating plant said to be the largest plant in the world to capture carbon dioxide after the combustion process.
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Can we levitate concrete trucks onto a building site?
Quote: “Finding other options to blocking public sidewalks and streets might be possible at some large scale sites, but it’s not at the “infill properties of the nature that I’m building…. “There is an alternative. We can employ 20 helicopters,…
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Pacific NorthWest LNG project approved by new government EA process
$11-billion project has huge potential for generating business for consulting engineers, but road ahead is not clear yet.
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Ontario set to change construction Lien Act and deal with Prompt Payment
Comprehensive expert review of the construction industry commissioned by the Attorney General is expected to result in legislative changes next year. It will affect payment practices and dispute resolution procedures.
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Governments paying attention to building affordable housing
The push is on to build more affordable housing in Canada, and to renovate the existing stock. Canada’s mayors presented the federal government with principles for a National Housing Strategy at the Toronto Housing Summit held last week, and funding…
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CCDC issues new documents
The Canadian Construction Documents Committee recently issued two new documents that relate to procurement practices in the industry.
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Next Generation Buildings: Power Over Ethernet
In the emerging era of the Internet-of-Things and IP networks, the use of Power-over-Ethernet is a technology that can simplify a building’s electrical and communications infrastructure.
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OSPE’s #AnEngineerWasHere tag broadcasts importance of engineers
Engineering association wants engineers to be leaders again, and says they should be brought to the table early when important decisions are made, such as over carbon trading and infrastructure.
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Quick time finish for Brock Commons at UBC
The mass wood structure and façade has been completed for the University of B.C.’s Brock Commons student residence, months ahead of schedule. The structure was completed less than 70 days after the prefabricated components were first delivered to the site. …
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Decision looms over Esquimalt sewage treatment plant
The Capital Regional District of Victoria, B.C. is facing a major decision at a board meeting on Wednesday, September 14 over its long-running dispute over how to deal with its sewage. The CRD represents 13 municipalities and three electoral areas…
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A thousand tanks holding contaminated water at Fukushima
A recent New York Times article described the ongoing struggles to contain the disaster at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power station in Japan. After the tsunami and explosions destroyed several reactors at the ocean-front plant in March 2011, TEPCO, the…
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Survey finds civil engineering firms share data widely
Results also show trends in companies’ confidence, adoption of technologies, and key challenges
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Three Canadian universities reach breakthroughs to help the earth
Ryerson University, University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto announce promising technologies for treating oilsands wastewater, for developing non-toxic batteries, and a way to efficiently convert C02 into energy.
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University of B.C. and University of Regina teams are top winners in ASHRAE competition
The ASHRAE 2016 Student Design Competition saw teams from eight countries take part. First place in the HVAC Design Calculations category went to the University of British Columbia. Their challenge was to design and select systems for a new 2-storey…
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Wind turbine collapse in Cape Breton being investigated
Enercon Canada is investigating what happened to cause an 80-metre high wind turbine to crumple and collapse at a wind farm near Port Hawkesbury, Cape Breton. The tower buckled over during routine maintenance, bringing its 40-metre long blades down to…
