Articles
Closing the loop: Builders of Calgary ring road moving rivers to stay on schedule
August 9, 2018 Saul ChernosCalgary’s new ring road is well on its way to becoming a full-fledged loop. Northeast and northwest sections opened to motorists wanting to bypass the city in 2009, and a southeast section was added four years later. If all goes…
Ottawa tech firm takes on ‘primitive’ concrete testing
August 9, 2018 Jillian MorganWith a little resistance from an industry sometimes seen as being set in its ways, Giatec Scientific Inc. is working to bring the world’s second most consumed material into the 21st century. Its smart concrete testing products offer an alternative…
Starting small: Hybrid and electric equipment looks to earn its place
August 9, 2018 Nate HendleyA new breed of compact equipment is starting to inch its way onto the job site. This April at Intermat, German manufacturer Wacker Neuson revealed the all-electric EZ17e mini-excavator. One of the first machines of its kind, the EZ17e performs…
Formless: How shotcrete is changing timelines, concrete crews and the jobsite
August 9, 2018 David KennedyFormwork has been a mainstay on construction sites for generations. The familiar timber, metal or plastic forms that support freshly-placed concrete as it sets aren’t about to go extinct, but they’re facing increased pressure from a method that can shave…
Virtual models that support maintenance and operations
August 9, 2018 Jacob StollerA bid team at EllisDon recently received a two-sentence RFP addendum pertaining to documentation requirements. “It stipulated that the as-built model we were to produce had to be at the level that would allow the owner to operate and…
Managing risk: Getting your workforce on board
August 9, 2018 David BowcottTo be truly effective at managing risk, you must master the complex world of risk controls. Put in place before incidents occur, risk controls are the contractual agreements, the operational practices and the tools and technologies used to prevent or…
Lien claims: How much is too much?
August 9, 2018 Krista Johanson and Lindsey von BloedauWhen an owner or contractor seeks to remove a claim of lien from title to land by securing the lien with money in place of the land, a debate sometimes arises as to whether the claim of lien has been…
Tall wood buildings on the rise for Canadian universities
June 12, 2018 by Jillian MorganThe University of Toronto has unveiled plans to construct a 14-storey wood building on its St. George campus, located in the city’s downtown. Slated for construction at the end of 2019, the tower is expected to be the tallest mass…
From the editor… Canada’s Top Contractors lay the groundwork
June 11, 2018 by David KennedyAnother tough year for the construction industry in 2017 showcased the dogged resilience and gritty determination Canada’s Top Contractors are already well known for. In many parts of the country, where federal infrastructure cash remained little more than a promise,…
Construction innovation: Shedding the old paradigms
June 11, 2018 Jacob StollerThe term “innovation” conjures up images of drones, virtual reality, state-of-the-art sensing technology and leading-edge building materials. These products, however, are only enablers—the real innovation is in the changes companies have to make to adopt them. Unlike manufacturers, contractors don’t…
Answering the capex question: When does renting equipment beat out ownership?
June 11, 2018 by David KennedyAt one time, the type of work contractors could complete was largely limited to the type of equipment in their arsenal. That’s no longer the case. From small local shops to the big national chains, the equipment rental industry has…
The power of project monitoring in preventing and mitigating risk
June 11, 2018 David BowcottYour construction project is made up of several sources of capital that turn concepts dreamt up on paper into tangible structures. Without these sources of capital, and the people behind that capital who believe in your project’s success, your project…
Acadian Construction looks to corner the market in Atlantic Canada
June 11, 2018 by David KennedyAcadian Construction is riding high. The New Brunswick contractor more than doubled its revenue in 2017, booking $85 million in sales over the course of the year, compared to $40 million during the previous 12-month period. The strong growth catapulted…
Machine control advances: New technology prompts evolution of decades-old sensing systems
June 11, 2018 Nate HendleyThere have been significant developments in machine control, driven by technological advancements and industry trends. Used on earthworks equipment since the mid-1990s, machine control systems utilize satellite network data and sensors to determine geographic coordinates and assess grade. Such systems…
Fundamentals of materials liens: Payment for materials in construction contracts
June 11, 2018 Alexander J. SpraggsIn a typical subcontract, a subcontractor will periodically, throughout the duration of their work on or supply for the project, apply for payments at a value proportionate to the amount of the subcontract work performed and/or the materials delivered to…
From the editor: And now for the good news…
May 4, 2018 Rob BlackstienWe’ve been overwhelmed with a lot of bad news lately. If it’s not yet another mass shooting, it’s soaring gas prices in Vancouver, or Ontario politicians dropping like flies in the wake of inappropriate behaviour. Hell, even the weather in…
Can concrete roads be king in Atlantic Canada?
May 4, 2018 Jillian MorganA stretch of Nova Scotia’s Highway 101 connects the town of Mount Uniacke – about 40 kilometres North of Halifax – to the community of Ellershouse. The 11-kilometre highway is one of three concrete roads in the province, tendered in…
Teaching an old dog new tricks
May 4, 2018 Nate HendleyRecent innovation to wheel loaders has brought a fresh look to the construction site workhorse
Augmented Reality Brings BIM to the Jobsite
May 4, 2018 Jacob StollerBy marrying the virtual world of Building Information Modeling (BIM) with the real world of the job site, augmented reality (AR) is already having an impact on how construction work gets done. The question is, how far will the trend go?
Critical Coverage – Impact Covers in Project Specific Insurances
May 4, 2018 Peter Smith and Barrie NgehAmong the most often overlooked and misunderstood coverages when insuring a construction project are soft cost and delay in start up coverages, both of which are optional but prevalent exposures for both the owner and contractor alike. We need to…