Photo Winner: Crushing it in Montreal

Photographer Peter Seager’s timing to capture the demolition of the last main concrete structure of the original Champlain Bridge over highway 132 on Montreal’s south shore captured our judges’ attention, and top honours in the 2022 Canadian Construction Photo Contest. (Photo by Pierre Seager)

Capturing the demolition of the last main concrete structure of the original Champlain Bridge in Montreal has earned photographer Pierre Seager and his client the Nouvel Horizon St-Laurent s.e.n.c (NHSL) consortium, formed by Pomerleau and Delsan-A.I.M. Environmental Services, top honours in the 2022 Canadian Construction Photo Contest, as presented by On-Site Magazine and our sponsor, Timescapes.

From a field of almost 200 images and emerging from the shortlist of the honourable mention images that appear in our latest edition, the action of the excavators, framed by the vested workers on the site, made this image a judges’ favourite, and the overall winner of On-Site’s 2022 Canadian Construction Photo Contest.

Bridges are iconic structures in Montreal, and until it was closed to traffic when the new Samuel De Champlain Bridge opened in 2019, the original Champlain Bridge was one of the busiest in Canada handling roughly 50 million crossings per year. The bridge crossed the Saint Lawrence River, connecting the Island of Montreal to its south shore suburbs.

Using more than 20 high-reach excavators, the NHSL consortium has been dismantling the bridge in a multi-year project. The main concrete structure of the original Champlain bridge incorporated pre-stressed concrete beams that supported a pre-stressed concrete deck paved with asphalt. More than 10,000 tons of concrete and other materials were recuperated during this particular 50-hour operation, which Seager was on hand to capture last November.

In recognition of Pierre’s great shot, On-Site has made a donation in his name to Fondation CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation.

As with previous years, this was not an easy contest to judge. In addition to the winner and finalists presented here, there were numerous other images that could have easily landed in these pages, and some that might find their way into future editions of the magazine. To all who submitted images, we’d like to thank you for sharing these moments from your jobsites. It’s heartening to see so much great work, and some impressive scenery, from Canada’s construction sector.

And keep snapping photos as 2023 unfolds. The next Canadian Construction Photo Contest will launch in December, and you can’t enter a photo that was not captured, so keep those cameras, drones and smartphones rolling!

Happy, and safe, shooting.

FINALISTS

If this year’s crop of images is any indicator, there’s a lot of great work happening on jobsites from coast to coast to coast, which made it very difficult to narrow down all the submissions to a list of finalists and a single winner. Despite having to leave some amazing photos on the cutting room floor, including shots featuring the northern lights, trestle bridges, and more, the shots on these pages are the ones that captured the eyes of our judges. Congratulations to the following honourable mention winners.

(Photo by Ovidiu Petre-Simen)

EBC has teamed with Bessac Canada to construct a series of shafts, connecting tunnels and collector system for the City of Toronto. Part of the city’s basement flooding protection program, the project provides conveyance and in-line storage tunnels and will connect to future storm sewer separation connections. In June, Ovidiu Petre-Simen spotted a unique perspective to capture this shot, which he has titled Tunnel Launching Shaft.

Company: EBC

Photographer: Ovidiu Petre-Simen,

Assistant Project Manager, EBC

Location: Toronto

(Photo by Take Off Photography)

Pitt Meadows Plumbing and Mechanical Systems was installing 40-foot lengths of 30-inch diameter piping into the Oakridge district energy utility project in Vancouver the week before Christmas. This photo was taken using a drone while some of the final pieces of pipe were being lifted into place. Pipework goes down the centre of the towers, descending down 22 floors to connect to the central plant that will heat and cool the development.

Company: Pitt Meadows Plumbing and Mechanical Systems

Photographer: Take Off Photography

Location: Vancouver

(Photo courtesy of Kicking Horse Canyon Phase 4 Project)

Upgrading the roads in Kicking Horse Canyon comes with phenomenal views of the Rocky Mountains, as well as one steep drop-off, as can be seen in this photo of the work being done this past October.

Company: Kicking Horse Canyon Phase 4 Project (Sub-contractor: RECo Canada)

Photo courtesy of: Kicking Horse Canyon Phase 4 Project

Location: Golden, B.C.

(Photo by Jeff Cooke / Cooked Photography)

Sparks on the waterfront: Photographer Jeff Cooke captured workers building the NSCC Sydney Waterfront Campus Development. The new facility will feature a pedway crossing and will have state-of-the-art learning spaces and community spaces. It will also include four buildings that will be used by 1,400 students and 200 staff.

Company: Ellis Don Atlantic

Photographer: Jeff Cooke / Cooked Photography

Location: Halifax

(Photo by Pierre Seager)

The dismantling of the original Champlain Bridge bridge’s steel structure by the NHSL team generated a few sparks in the foreground and deeper in the shot as well. It was the perfect opportunity for photographer Pierre Seager to use a long exposure to craft this interesting night-time shot.

Company: Nouvel Horizon St-Laurent s.e.n.c (NHSL)

Photographer: Pierre Seager

Location: Montreal

(Photo by Jenn Mudge)

Kinetic Construction installed three totem poles during the build of the Canadian Coast Guard Base Hardy Bay, including this 16-foot pole. The totem poles were designed and carved by local Kwakiutl First Nations artists. The installation was carried out by Kinetic Construction with support from a crane operator from Hardy Building Supply. The two 16-foot totem poles were installed at the entrance of the building, while a 30-foot pole was placed near the building, facing the ocean.

Company: Kinetic Construction Ltd.

Photographer: Jenn Mudge

Location: Port Hardy, B.C.

(Photo by Michael Laursen)

The replacement of a “beehive” warehouse roof by Graham Construction this past July required machines with long reaches, which provide an interesting contrast to the ceiling pattern captured through the lens of Michael Laursen.

Company: Graham Construction

Photographer: Michael Laursen

Location: Belle Plaine, Sask.

(Photo by Philip Castleton)

A crew from Powell Contracting installs temporary construction barriers and energy attenuators to protect both construction crews and road users on a July day. The energy attenuators are used at the ends of the barriers for protection.

Company: Powell Contracting

Photographer: Philip Castleton

Location: Milton, Ont.

(Photo by Klaus Skruba)

The tunnel foreman pauses after an exhausting July day assembling the bulkheads for the arch formwork for the lining of the 330 m long, 3.4 m internal diameter sewer extension tunnel at Toronto’s Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant Integrated Pumping Station. The work is part of a $120-million Integrated Pumping station project.

Company: Strabag Inc.

Photographer: Klaus Skruba

Location: Toronto

(Photo by Nick McGrath)

Capturing a view of progress on the Bow River Bridge Project, at night, in Calgary. The twinning of the bridge is expanding the transportation infrastructure in the city.

Company: Flatiron Construction

Photographer: Nick McGrath

Location: Calgary