Top B.C. award goes to emergency retrofit in Quebec
April 14, 2015
By CCE
Buckland & Taylor’s team receiving the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Engineering Excellence at the ACEC-BC Awards in Vancouver on April 10. Photo: ACEC-BC/Kim Stallknecht.
The Association of Consulting Engineering Companies-B.C. (ACEC-BC) held its 26th annual Awards for Engineering Excellence gala on Friday, April 10.
Held at the Vancouver Convention Centre West, the event theme was “Countdown to Excellence,” with guests “orbiting … into a moon-scape atmosphere, filled with intergalactic possibilities.”
The Honourable Judith Guichon was a special guest and presented the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Engineering Excellence to Buckland & Taylor. The specialist bridge engineering firm is based in Vancouver but won the award
Work under way on the superbeam and modular truss installed in an emergency on Montreal’s Champlain Bridge. Buckland and Taylor were the design and construction engineers for the remediation. Photo courtesy: Buckland & Taylor.
for a project in Quebec — the design and construction engineering of the Champlain Bridge Superbeam and Modular Truss project in Montreal. The project dealt with an emergency situation that arose when a major flexural crack was discovered in one of the post-tensioned girders of the bridge. Within 48 hours the bridge was fixed by installing a stabilizing component – the Superbeam – until the winter weather subsided. A steel truss was later installed as a permanent solution.
Keith Sashaw, president and chief executive officer of ACEC-BC, noted: “Buckland & Taylor’s innovative approach, responsiveness and expertise played a critical role in the safe completion of such a large and complex project. Minimal impact was made to commuters and the flow of commercial goods on the bridge, despite the challenging winter working conditions.”
The Champlain bridge project also won an award of excellence, as did four other projects. These were:
The Kin Centre Complex in Prince George by Fast + Epp (buildings category); the Kamloops Sewage Treatment Centre Upgrades by Urban Systems (municipal and civil infrastructure); the Nanaimo Reservoir No. 1 and Energy Recovery Facility by Associated Engineering (energy and industry); and the Building Envelope Thermal Bridging Guide by Morrison Hershfield for BC Hydro Power Smart (soft engineering).
“This year’s winners represent the best and brightest that our industry has to offer, and are a testament to the amazing work of B.C.’s consulting engineers that we have been showcasing on this stage for 26 years,” said Sashaw.
John Collings, P.Eng. receiving the 2015 Meritorious Achievement Award from ACEC-BC in Vancouver, April 10.
Photo: ACEC-BC/Kim Stallknecht.
ACEC-BC also gives two awards to individuals. The Meritorious Achievement Award was given to John Collings, P.Eng. of Collings Johnston for significant lifetime contributions to engineering, the industry and the community. Collings has been a leader in the transportation industry and has served on advisory and technical committees of the Transportation Research Board, Vancouver Board of Trade, and ACEC-Canada.
The Young Professional Award, which recognizes an individual for achievements in the first 10 years of their career, went to Mark Byram, P.Eng. of Levelton Consultants. Mark has served as Chair of ACEC-BC’s Young Professionals’ Group and as an ex-officio member of the ACEC-BC Board of Directors. In 2013, he was sponsored by
Mark Byram, P.Eng. (centre) of Levelton receiving the Young Professional Award at the ACEC-BC awards in Vancouver on April 10. Photo: ACEC-BC/Kim Stallknecht. At right is Keith Sashaw, president and CEO of ACEC-BC.
ACEC-BC to travel to Barcelona to attend the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) centenary conference.
Awards of Merit for projects were handed out as follows: York House School Senior Building, Vancouver by MCW Consultants; Williams Road Drainage Pump Station Upgrade in Richmond by Aplin & Martin Consultants; Composite Barrier Wall / Rock Shed Structure for Canadian National Railways in Lytton and Boston Bar by Klohn Crippen Berger; Low Level Road Project for Port Metro Vancouver and the City of North Vancouver by Stantec; Kokish River Hydroelectric Project near Port McNeill for Peter Kiewit Infrastructure by Knight Piésold; Wood Innovation and Design Centre in Prince George by Associated Engineering and Applied Engineering Solutions as the owner’s technical representatives for the Province of B.C.; and the Custom Mobile GPS Streamlining Real-Time Data for LNG Pipeline Project for TransCanada Pipelines in Northern B.C. by McElhanney Consulting Services.
ACEC-BC firms employ more than 10,000 people in British Columbia.
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