Category
Industrial
Extech introduces minimally invasive video inspection camera
An affordable and versatile wireless inspection borescope designed to get into openings as small as 4.5mm while providing bright clear images on its detachable wireless display.
Harting introduces Han-Smart modules: intelligent industrial connectors
Three new modules introduced are connectors that can provide added value while beginning to evolve into active devices to serve the needs of the future.
Surrey opens North America’s first closed-loop organic waste management system
The site will convert curbside organic waste into renewable biofuel to fuel the City’s fleet of natural gas powered waste collection and service vehicles.
Jacobs awarded front-end engineering design contract for petrochemical facility in Alberta
Canada Kuwait Petrochemical Corp. selected Jacobs for a proposed greenfield, integrated propane dehydrogenation and polypropylene facility located in Sturgeon County.
SPX Cooling Technologies expands applications for Marley Cube evaporative condensers
Cube models geared towards cooling applications in chemical processing, industrial gases production and pharmaceutical production.
New Linear Position Sensor Specifically for the Power Generation Industry
Sensors well suited for valve position feedback in steam and hydro power plants, as well as use in heavy duty applications like civil engineering.
Unattended measuring with Fluke 64 MAX IR Thermometer
The IR thermometer logs up to 99 data points eliminating the need to manually record measurements.
CertainTeed sustainable insulation meets fire safety standards
The insulation is classified as noncombustible under CAN4-S114-2005 testing.
Making concrete stronger
Scientists at Rice University are studying atomic-level computer analysis to better understand the internal structure of cement, leading to the ability to make concrete stronger and better able to deform without cracking under stress.
Winnipeg selling off industrial land
One of the last parcels of city-owned industrial land in Winnipeg is up for sale, raising questions about what the city will do when it no longer has any land to entice factories and other large employers to set up shop.
SNC-Lavalin awarded five-year services deal in Alberta
SNC-Kentz and Clearstream joint venture awarded five-year engineering/procurement services agreement for Fort Mac oil sands projects.
Thousands of geese die after landing in copper mine leftovers
An estimated 10,000 snow geese plunged into a toxic tailings pond in Montana at the end of November. The geese were flying south and according to one theory could have been avoiding a storm when they diverted over the Berkeley…
Alberta sees end of a “long dark night”
According to Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Alberta is coming to the end of a “long, dark night,” following the federal government’s decision to approve the Trans-Mountain pipeline expansion. The pipeline expansion promises a boost to the province’s beleaguered oil sands…
Enerkem Alberta Biofuels – Tree for Life Award & Award of Excellence
Jury Comments: “Winner of a special award for environmental stewardship, this commercial refinery for converting non-recyclable garbage into biofuels deals with the challenges of being a “first” technology. The process converts the waste material to biomethanol, and has the potential for very significant environmental benefits, potentially reducing landfilled material by 90%.”
Giant Mine Roaster Complex Decontamination – Award of Excellence
Jury Comments: “This was an urgent, high-risk project, and its execution protected workers, the public and the environment in an exceptional way. The engineers’ work involved assessing and remediating a large former gold mining site, where a variety of hazardous materials had to be removed, notwithstanding that some of the buildings were near collapse.”
Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture Storage – Award of Excellence
Jury Comments: “Another “first,” this project is a global leader — the first in the world to capture post-combustion carbon from an existing coal-fired power plant at a large commercial scale. It extends the life of the existing plant by 30 years and has the potential to keep coal as an energy option for the future. The challenges of integrating the systems into the existing plant were of a huge magnitude.”
Goldcorp Eleonore Mine – Award of Excellence
Jury Comments: “This major mining infrastructure project in the remote James Bay region of Northern Quebec required
well executed up-front planning and had a very good risk management process. The project involved building the above ground facilities for a gold mine, including the ore processing plant, a work camp for 400, administrative buildings, wastewater treatment plant, and tailings management facilities. There was also good involvement with First Nations.”-
This year’s winners of Canada’s engineering awards announced
Top technical award goes to Fast + Epp of Vancouver for an innovative wood structure at the Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre. Bridges. transportation projects, a solid waste biorefinery, mega-mining projects and efforts to help developing countries weather climate change are among the winners.
Spill prompts Saskatchewan to launch pipeline inspection program
The Ministry of the Economy of Saskatchewan is implementing a province-wide inspection of all oil pipelines that cross Saskatchewan rivers or lakes where a potential failure could pose a threat to municipal water supplies. The inspection program comes in the…
New GE factory in Welland will be “brilliant”
A groundbreaking ceremony was held in late August for a new “brilliant” 450,000 sq. ft. factory for GE Canada in Welland, near the U.S. border in the Niagara Region of southwest Ontario. The plant is GE’s first multi-modal “Brilliant Factory”…
Humbled by the huge responsibility of engineers
From the June-July print issue, page 4. Editorial Comment. Looking at aerial photographs of the 2014 Mount Polley Mine tailings spill, I was shocked by the size of the tailings pond. This one in the Cariboo Region of B.C. was…
B.C. Mining Code changes done after Mount Polley disaster
Province’s guidelines for tailings ponds “now as good as exist anywhere in the world.”
Mount Polley – the Aftermath
The failure of a 40-metre high tailings dam at a copper mine in the B.C. interior caused widespread environmental damage. It has also shaken up the mining industry — and its engineers.
Corridor across Northern Canada could carry roads, rail and power
Researchers at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy and CIRANO have been studying the potential of a Northern Corridor right-of-way across Canada. Andrei Sulzenko and G. Kent Fellows’ 81-page report was published by the university in May. They…
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Trans Mountain pipeline approval promises construction boom
The Alberta government and bodies such as the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) were quick to commend the National Energy Board of Canada’s decision on the Trans Mountain Expansion project. On May 19, the three-member NEB panel said it…
B.C. auditor issues scathing report on mining developments
B.C. Auditor General says Ministry of Energy and Mines not providing enough oversight or enforcement for safe mine design and operations. After Mount Polley, “Business as usual cannot continue.”
Mining industry waiting longer for permits
Over the past 10 years mining companies (and their engineering consultants) have had to wait longer to receive exploration permits, according to a Fraser Institute report. Issued February 22, the report finds that Ontario is a “clear laggard” in terms…
Professional engineering oversight lacking in CNRL Horizon tank collapse
The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) has reopened its inquiries into a fatal accident that occurred in the oil sands in 2007. The association’s director of communications told the Edmonton Journal that they had only recently…
Company News Round-Up: Golder, Arup, Hatch, JMP – a remediation, a tunnel, a solar array, and industrial automation
Golder Associates oversaw the testing and remediation process on the successful Blatchford site remediation in the heart of Edmonton. During the second phase of the remediation crews removed approximately 21,000 tonnes of soil, including hydrocarbon-contamination, from around five former building…
Ontario relaunches plan to boost mining industry
Ontario has relaunched its Mineral Development Strategy with the aim of promoting new investment in mining in the province. On December 14, the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines said it particularly wants to attract investment in mining industry in…
