Tunnel and building structure innovations among concrete awards in Ontario

Consulting engineers were prominent among the winners in the 2014 Ontario Concrete Awards. Presented at a banquet in Toronto on December 3, the awards recognized 10 types of projects and named the architects, engineers, contractors , owners and others that were involved.

In the Infrastructure category the winner was the Ontario Power Generation Niagara Tunnel project, with ILF Consulting Engineers as design engineer, David F. Wood Consulting as engineer of record, Strabag as general contractor, and Dufferin/Holcim as material supplier. Construction of the 10-kilometre long tunnel, which is 14.4 metres in diameter, was very complex, requiring unique cast-in-place, unreinforced concrete that had to set quickly, cannot shrink, creep, or crack and has to last a century. The same mix also needed to be pumped up to 1,800 metres and then dropped 140 metres below the surface in free fall through an 8″ drop shaft pipe.

In the Structural Design Innovation category the winner was the Aga Khan Museum & Ismaili Centre, a 17-acre complex in Toronto, for Imara. Engineer of record is CH2M HILL; architect of record is Moriyama & Teshima, general contractor is Carillion. The museum is clad in white granite and rises 13.7-metres above ground with walls that cantilever outwards and inwards on all four sides.

Another winner was the Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism in Markham, north of Toronto. This project, which has one of Canada’s largest post-tension cantilevered structures, won in the Material Development and Innovation category. The engineer of record is Blackwell, architect is Shim-Sutcliffe, and general contractor is Gillam Group. The building’s steel superstructure is supported on a two-way concrete slab system that has long cantilever spans on each side. A 10.2-m span on the west side spans over the drive and acts as a support for the majority of the interior space. A smaller 5.2-m cantilever on the east side accommodates an exterior terrace and serves as a counter balance for the main span.

The seven other winners were:

Institutional Building: Social Sciences Building, University of Ottawa; Diamond Schmitt Architects, KWC Architects, Halsall Associates, Aecon Group.

Mid to High-Rise Residential: Cinema Tower for TSCC 2341, Toronto; Kirkor Architects, Jablonsky, Ast & Partners, Daniels.

Architectural Merit: Deerfield Hall, University of Toronto, Mississauga; Perkins + Will, exp Services, Eastern Construction.

Architectural Hardscape: Lake Wilcox Park Waterfront Promenade, Richmond Hill; Dillon Consulting, R. J. Burnside & Associates, Rutherford Contracting.

Sustainable Concrete Construction: Bridgepoint Active Healthcare, Toronto; Stantec, KPMB, HDR, Diamond Schmitt Architects, Halsall Associates, PCL Constructors.

Specialty Concrete Applications: Dufferin U-Track, Toronto; Quadrangle Architects, Jablonsky, Ast and Partners; Aspen Ridge Management.

Specialty Concrete Products: Highway 404 Extension, York Region, for MOT-Central Region; Hatch Mott MacDonald, Highway Construction Inspection Ontario, Morrison Hershfield, Miller Paving.

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Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism in Markham, north of Toronto.

Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism in Markham, north of Toronto.