Company News PotPourri: Clifton, Exp, McElhanney, Urban Systems, Saltworks, Carbon Engineering, AMEC Foster Wheeler, Eramosa

Construction continues on the Regina Bypass, with several consulting engineering companies involved. The bypass is due to open in 2019 and involves 40 kilometres of new four-lane highway, 12 overpasses and 55 kilometres of service roads. Among a team that includes 22 local companies are Clifton Associates, Exp, McElhanney, Dan Perrin Consulting, and Urban Systems.

Saltworks Technologies of Vancouver is designing and building two demonstration pilot projects using its patented mine wastewater treatment technologies. One plant is to remove nitrates in a test environment, and another is to reduce selenium from waste rock at Teck Resources’ Fording River mine. The company received $1.25 million from the B.C. Innovative Clean Energy Fund.

Carbon Engineering received $3.75 million from the same B.C. fund to design and construct a synthetic fuels demonstration plant in Squamish. It will use carbon dioxide captured from thin air to synthesize diesel or gasoline fuel.

Among research projects being carried out at the University of Waterloo in collaboration with private companies, one involves AMEC Foster Wheeler. With Professor Hyung-Sool Lee of the civil and environmental engineering department, AMEC will investigate innovative technologies for controlling dissolved methane and nitrogen in anaerobic wastewater treatment. The project has received a $567,000 grant from NSERC.

Another University of Waterloo collaboration involves Eramosa Engineering working with Professor Sriram Narasimhan of the civil and environmental engineering department, along with the City of Guelph, C3Water, Terepac Corporation and Toronto Water. They received a $503,000 NSERC grant to develop a monitoring and decision support system to manage water loss in urban distribution systems.