Eleven projects win 2006 Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards

The winners of the 2006 Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards were announced at a gala celebration at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa on Thursday evening, October 26. The annual awards, launched 38 years ago, are the most important national mark of recognition for projects recently completed by consulting engineering firms. They are sponsored by the Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada (ACEC) and Canadian Consulting Engineer magazine.

Leading environmental project wins Schreyer Award
The winner of the top honour in the program — the Schreyer Award — is an example of how the work of consulting engineers is helping to protect Canada’s environment and conserve precious fresh water resources.

The Schreyer Award went to Edmonton’s Gold Bar Wastewater Treatment Plant’s Industrial Water Reuse Facility, a project by the consulting engineering company Associated Engineering.

Associated Engineering developed a process to treat wastewater in the sewage treatment plant so that the treated water could then be reused by the petrochemical industry. Using membrane filtration and other technologies, the Gold Bar Industrial Water Reuse Facility now delivers high quality water to a Petro-Canada refinery five kilometres away.

As a result, even though Petro-Canada is undergoing a major upgrade and increasing its need for water in its production processes, those needs are answered without having to draw fresh water from the North Saskatchewan River, the city’s main fresh water source. Besides helping to protect the watershed, the project diverts waste from the North Saskatchewan River and thus protects the water quality and aquatic habitat. The project is also an important example of a successful partnership between a municipality and industry.

The $14-million Gold Bar Industrial Water Reuse Facility is initially producing 5 million litres of treated wastewater per day. By the end of 2007 the plant will be producing up to 15 million litres per day and eventually will be capable of producing 40 million litres per day. In addition to supplying Petro-Canada, the facility supplies reused water to a local park, a ski hill and to neighbouring Strathcona County.

Ten Awards of Excellence
The 10 Awards of Excellence went to buildings, marine infrastructure, a bridge, dam, water treatment plants, site remediation, and two special projects related to human safety and security. Two were done on behalf of First Nations communities in Canada’s Far North.

Four of the winning consulting engineering companies are from Quebec, three from Ontario, two from Alberta, and three from British Columbia.

The winners were selected from 50 entries. The jury was a panel of eminent engineers from across Canada. The chair this year was Prof. Marc Rosen, Dean of Engineering at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa.

Full descriptions of each winning project are published in Canadian Consulting Engineer, October-November issue, posted at www.canadianconsultingengineer.com

CANADIAN CONSULTING ENGINEERING AWARDS 2006
WINNERS

SCHREYER AWARD

Industrial Water Reuse at Gold bar Wastewater Treatment Plant, Edmonton
Associated Engineering (Edmonton, Alta.)
Category: Natural Resources, Mining and Industry

AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE

Canadian War Museum Structural Engineering, Ottawa
Adjeleian Allen Rubeli Ltd. (Ottawa, Ont.)
Category: Buildings

Lassonde Pavilions / Pavillons Lassonde, Ecole Polytechnique de Montral
Bouthillette Parizeau et associs , Pageau Morel et associs and Pasquin St-Jean et associs, experts-conseils inc (Montreal, Que.)
Category: Buildings

Marine Infrastructure at Puvirnituq / Infrastructures Maritimes Puvirnituq, Nunavik
CIMA+ (Rivire-du-Loup, Que.)
Category: Transportation

Queenston-Lewiston International Bridge Fifth Lane Project, Ontario
McCormick Rankin Corporation (Toronto, Ont.) / Buckland and Taylor Limited (Vancouver, B.C.)
Category: Transportation

Arrow Creek Water Treatment Plant, Erickson, B.C.
CH2M HILL (Burnaby, B.C.)
Category: Water Resources & Energy Production

Toulnustouc Dam / Barrage hydrolectrique de la Toulnustouc, Baie Comeau, Quebec
RSW INC. (Montreal, Que.)
Category: Water Resources & Energy Production

Kamloops Centre for Water Quality, B.C.
Stantec Consulting (Kamloops, B.C.)
Category: Water Resources & Energy Production

Nitchequon Former Meteorological Station Remediation
Golder Associates Ltd. (Montreal, Que.)
Category: Environment

Turtle Mountain Monitoring, Crowsnest Pass, Alberta
AMEC Earth & Environmental (Calgary, Alta.)
Category: Studies, Software & Special Projects

Explosive Detection Systems at Canada’s Airports
Marshall Macklin Monaghan Limited (Toronto, Ont.)
Category: Project Management

Co-sponsors of the above awards:
The Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada/Association des ingnieurs-conseils du Canada (ACEC/AICC) in Ottawa is the national association of consulting firms that provide engineering and other technology-based intellectual services. www.acec.ca

Canadian Consulting Engineer is a bi-monthly magazine for engineers in private practice. It is a division of BIG Magazines LP of Toronto. www.canadianconsultingengineer.com.

BEAUBIEN AWARD
given by ACEC/AICC

Robert A. Brocklebank, P.Eng. is this year’s recipient of the Beaubien Award, the highest recognition presented annually by the Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada (ACEC) for individual lifetime achievements and contribution to the engineering industry and to the Association.

Mr. Brocklebank’s greatest technical expertise is in the field of geomatics related to aerial photography and mapping. He has played an important role in establishing Canada’s reputation as a world leader in the field of geomatics and in the logistics of carrying out projects in remote, inhospitable locations. Throughout his distinguished career he has also made significant public contributions in other fields of endeavour. His dedication and support for the Canadian Consulting Engineering industry is well known.

Mr. Brocklebank retired as President of McElhanney Consulting Services of Vancouver in 1995, and is still a Director of the firm.