Modular method cuts time for Alberta seniors’ complex
STEPHEN DAFOE
correspondent
A modular construction project currently under construction at North Ridge Lodge in St. Albert will provide 48 additional units for seniors, more than doubling its current capacity.
The $8 million project was put together by Integrated Management for the Sturgeon Foundation, which runs the seniors facility.
The company selected Cormode & Dickson as the general site contractors and Barr Cana Homes Inc. of Barrhead as the manufacturer of the modular units.
Pete Wallace, site manager with Cormode & Dickson, said that the 48,000-square-foot project consists of 40 individual units, each measuring 20 feet wide by 60 feet long and weighing in at 60,000 pounds apiece.
The individual units are being assembled into four floors of 12 units each to create the building’s 48 individual units.
Wallace said that a 265-tonne crane was brought in to lift the modular apartments into place, a process that allowed his crews to assemble the first two floors of the building in just three days.
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Once assembled, there won’t be much for crews to do other than power the building up. Roads of tomorrow need new thinking
KORKY KOROLUK
The world, we are told in the latest CIA World Fact Book, has 16 million kilometres of paved roads of one sort or another, and the total is growing rapidly.
China’s latest five-year plan calls for construction or renovation of 1.2 million kilometres, as it tries to make good on a promise of “a road to every village.” Brazil, Russia and India are not far behind.
Each kilometre of these traditionally build roads needs aggregate, asphalt, concrete and steel, plus all the diesel fuel needed to drive the construction equipment.
One kilometre of two-lane asphalt road can require up to 15,500 tonnes of aggregate, almost all of which has to be extracted, crushed and transported.
Korky Koroluk
If you’re worried about greenhouse gas emissions, building a single lane of expressway just a kilometre long will emit enough pollution to equal up to 745 tonnes of carbon dioxide. That’s about the total annual emissions of 130 passenger cars.
These figures all come from a paper written by Omri Dahan and Alex Goykham, both with TerraFusion, an innovative materials science company based in California. I imagine some roadbuilders will find the numbers fair; others might dispute them.
The environmental effects of a road don’t stop when the project is finished. Roads affect local plant and animal life, water and soil.
There are studies showing increased heavy-metal deposits from burning gasoline and salt deposits from de-icing up to a kilometre on each side of a road. Even birds and snakes can be affected. Cool rainwater that lands on hot roadbeds on a sunny day is heated as it runs off, sometimes into nearby aquatic ecosystems, where rapid temperature changes can cause stress on life in and on the water.
The move to cleaner cars and urban light-rail systems is encouraging, but most of the industrial world still goes to work every day on a road designed and built with yesterday’s thinking.
That elementary truth, framed against a backdrop of environmental damage, is what led to the formation, a few years ago, of an organization called the Green Highways Partnership. It’s American in its emphasis, but international in its implications. It operates through a network of private and public partnerships to study and implement best practices for watershed management, reuse and recycling programs and ecosystem protection using tools like specially constructed wildlife crossings.
The industries associated with roadbuilding have, of course, been well aware of their carbon footprint for years. In Canada and the United States, the cement industry reduced energy consumption by 37.5 per cent between 1972 and 2006. The asphalt industry has enjoyed great and growing success with warm-mix asphalt that requires less heat, and therefore uses less energy and emits fewer greenhouse gases. ‘
Private-sector firms are developing innovative and eco-friendly products. Some of the most promising are soil stabilizers and asphalt binders that appear to provide strength equivalent to an aggregate base, but at a lower cost and with less environmental impact.
Most urbanites think of new roads simply as a quicker way to get to work. But in the developing world, new roads have been shown to have important social benefits, as well.
A study in Laos showed new roads helped reduce poverty. A study in India showed improved access to health care with an accompanying lessening of risks to pregnant women and children. Across the developing world, income and employment opportunities rise as new businesses are created along new roads. That leads to more (and better access to) financial services, which in turn leads to stimulation of entrepreneurial investment.
So it’s time to get ready for green roads. You can start by visiting the Green Highways Partnership.
Korky Koroluk is an Ottawa-based freelance writer. Send comments to editor@dailycommercialnews.com
“The idea is they’re totally complete,” Wallace said of the units.
“We just basically hook up the plumbing and plug in the electrical and they’re ready to go. The walls are painted, the carpets are in and they’re done, right down to the fridge and stove.”
Cormode & Dickson began work on the site – previously North Ridge Lodge parkland — in mid-May and has spent the time stripping the surface, digging and pouring the basement and installing services.
The lodge is anticipating moving tenants into the building in December and the modular approach has resulted in a 50 per cent savings of time over conventional construction.
Wallace explained that outside of normal construction issues, the process of modularly constructing the project has been a smooth one and that the major difference between his current project and a conventional project was the use of professional riggers and crane operators to move the units into place.
“The erection process is a little different,” he said.
“You’re dealing with units that weigh 60,000 pounds, so you have to know what you are doing, but other than that, it’s basically standard construction.”
Wallace said that as the units are craned into place, they are secured to one another using metal straps called Simpson ties.
“They just strap together,” he said.
The North Ride Lodge project is Cormode & Dickson’s first venture into modular construction, but Wallace is certain there will likely be similar projects on the horizon.
“There’s a lot of talk on it (modular construction) now and they’re hoping to build quite a few of these units, in particular,” he said, adding that he has heard plans to produce and build as many as 2,500 units over the next couple of years throughout Alberta.
One person who is hoping to see more modular projects in the future is Albert Van Leeuwen, president of Barr Cana Homes Inc. which provided the 40 units for the project.
He explained that the manufacturing process begins when the client brings his company a blueprint of what the project requires.
The building is then compartmentalized into cubes ranging in size between 22 and 24 feet in width and as large as 76 feet in length.
“We build them into those kinds of cubes so that we can stack them and bring it in, pieces at a time,” he said.
“That’s the whole idea, so that we can build it in a closed in environment, so that we’re not susceptible to rain and all kinds of weather. Every day is production.”
Van Leeuwen explained that the Barrhead, Alta. plant has 18 staging areas for the modules to pass through over a nine-day period from first nail to last detail, with about five hours spent at each of the areas.
“Every bay has his job,” he said.
“So the first bay, for example, is where we build the floor trusses and roof trusses, and then we go to the next bay where they actually build and frame the floor. It moves ahead and we do all the plumbing and we put the decking on.”
From there, the floor coverings are applied before the unit moves on to have the walls erected in place.
Van Leeuwen explained that the plumbing and electrical are brought into a chase or common area, which lines up between the cube modules to be brought down into the basement.
STEPHEN DAFOE
correspondent
A modular construction project currently under construction at North Ridge Lodge in St. Albert will provide 48 additional units for seniors, more than doubling its current capacity.
The $8 million project was put together by Integrated Management for the Sturgeon Foundation, which runs the seniors facility.
The company selected Cormode & Dickson as the general site contractors and Barr Cana Homes Inc. of Barrhead as the manufacturer of the modular units.
Pete Wallace, site manager with Cormode & Dickson, said that the 48,000-square-foot project consists of 40 individual units, each measuring 20 feet wide by 60 feet long and weighing in at 60,000 pounds apiece.
The individual units are being assembled into four floors of 12 units each to create the building’s 48 individual units.
Wallace said that a 265-tonne crane was brought in to lift the modular apartments into place, a process that allowed his crews to assemble the first two floors of the building in just three days.
CURRENT STORIES
How Canadian companies can tap into U.S. stimulus funding
Nova Scotia Community College gets green energy grant
Roads of tomorrow need new thinking
Redpath on the rise in Toronto
Modular method cuts time for Alberta seniors’ complex
Rankin Construction gets Ontario Highway 406 widening contract
Highway expansion underway in Prince Edward Island
U.S. manufacturing shows signs of revival
Apartment building costs drop in Edmonton, Calgary
Infrastructure Ontario issues request for qualifications for courthouse in Belleville, Ont.
Jacobs Engineering Group must face bridge collapse claims: judge
Decline in U.S. non-residential construction sparks call for quicker stimulus rollout
Training takes a hit in British Columbia budget update
'Dam' good work at Manitoba’s Wuskwatim Generating Station
Calgary highrises under the microscope after glass falls
British Columbia's Massey Tunnel was a cutting-edge endeavor
Kyoto has had an impact on CO2 output
Collaborative safety paying dividends in U.S.
Calgary worksites hit by suspected fire bug
Feds help fund Vancouver Island Mountain Sports Centre
Nova Scotia website spreads the news about roadbuilding
Manitoba builds massive new Wuskwatim generating station
Airport undergoes major renovations in Nanaimo, British Columbia
Municipalities look to the sun to reduce energy costs
After 5-year delay, construction starts on well system in Chemainus, British Columbia
George Massey was a man with tunnel vision
Public Works Association of British Columbia to host technical conference
Once assembled, there won’t be much for crews to do other than power the building up. Roads of tomorrow need new thinking
KORKY KOROLUK
The world, we are told in the latest CIA World Fact Book, has 16 million kilometres of paved roads of one sort or another, and the total is growing rapidly.
China’s latest five-year plan calls for construction or renovation of 1.2 million kilometres, as it tries to make good on a promise of “a road to every village.” Brazil, Russia and India are not far behind.
Each kilometre of these traditionally build roads needs aggregate, asphalt, concrete and steel, plus all the diesel fuel needed to drive the construction equipment.
One kilometre of two-lane asphalt road can require up to 15,500 tonnes of aggregate, almost all of which has to be extracted, crushed and transported.
Korky Koroluk
If you’re worried about greenhouse gas emissions, building a single lane of expressway just a kilometre long will emit enough pollution to equal up to 745 tonnes of carbon dioxide. That’s about the total annual emissions of 130 passenger cars.
These figures all come from a paper written by Omri Dahan and Alex Goykham, both with TerraFusion, an innovative materials science company based in California. I imagine some roadbuilders will find the numbers fair; others might dispute them.
The environmental effects of a road don’t stop when the project is finished. Roads affect local plant and animal life, water and soil.
There are studies showing increased heavy-metal deposits from burning gasoline and salt deposits from de-icing up to a kilometre on each side of a road. Even birds and snakes can be affected. Cool rainwater that lands on hot roadbeds on a sunny day is heated as it runs off, sometimes into nearby aquatic ecosystems, where rapid temperature changes can cause stress on life in and on the water.
The move to cleaner cars and urban light-rail systems is encouraging, but most of the industrial world still goes to work every day on a road designed and built with yesterday’s thinking.
That elementary truth, framed against a backdrop of environmental damage, is what led to the formation, a few years ago, of an organization called the Green Highways Partnership. It’s American in its emphasis, but international in its implications. It operates through a network of private and public partnerships to study and implement best practices for watershed management, reuse and recycling programs and ecosystem protection using tools like specially constructed wildlife crossings.
The industries associated with roadbuilding have, of course, been well aware of their carbon footprint for years. In Canada and the United States, the cement industry reduced energy consumption by 37.5 per cent between 1972 and 2006. The asphalt industry has enjoyed great and growing success with warm-mix asphalt that requires less heat, and therefore uses less energy and emits fewer greenhouse gases. ‘
Private-sector firms are developing innovative and eco-friendly products. Some of the most promising are soil stabilizers and asphalt binders that appear to provide strength equivalent to an aggregate base, but at a lower cost and with less environmental impact.
Most urbanites think of new roads simply as a quicker way to get to work. But in the developing world, new roads have been shown to have important social benefits, as well.
A study in Laos showed new roads helped reduce poverty. A study in India showed improved access to health care with an accompanying lessening of risks to pregnant women and children. Across the developing world, income and employment opportunities rise as new businesses are created along new roads. That leads to more (and better access to) financial services, which in turn leads to stimulation of entrepreneurial investment.
So it’s time to get ready for green roads. You can start by visiting the Green Highways Partnership.
Korky Koroluk is an Ottawa-based freelance writer. Send comments to editor@dailycommercialnews.com
“The idea is they’re totally complete,” Wallace said of the units.
“We just basically hook up the plumbing and plug in the electrical and they’re ready to go. The walls are painted, the carpets are in and they’re done, right down to the fridge and stove.”
Cormode & Dickson began work on the site – previously North Ridge Lodge parkland — in mid-May and has spent the time stripping the surface, digging and pouring the basement and installing services.
The lodge is anticipating moving tenants into the building in December and the modular approach has resulted in a 50 per cent savings of time over conventional construction.
Wallace explained that outside of normal construction issues, the process of modularly constructing the project has been a smooth one and that the major difference between his current project and a conventional project was the use of professional riggers and crane operators to move the units into place.
“The erection process is a little different,” he said.
“You’re dealing with units that weigh 60,000 pounds, so you have to know what you are doing, but other than that, it’s basically standard construction.”
Wallace said that as the units are craned into place, they are secured to one another using metal straps called Simpson ties.
“They just strap together,” he said.
The North Ride Lodge project is Cormode & Dickson’s first venture into modular construction, but Wallace is certain there will likely be similar projects on the horizon.
“There’s a lot of talk on it (modular construction) now and they’re hoping to build quite a few of these units, in particular,” he said, adding that he has heard plans to produce and build as many as 2,500 units over the next couple of years throughout Alberta.
One person who is hoping to see more modular projects in the future is Albert Van Leeuwen, president of Barr Cana Homes Inc. which provided the 40 units for the project.
He explained that the manufacturing process begins when the client brings his company a blueprint of what the project requires.
The building is then compartmentalized into cubes ranging in size between 22 and 24 feet in width and as large as 76 feet in length.
“We build them into those kinds of cubes so that we can stack them and bring it in, pieces at a time,” he said.
“That’s the whole idea, so that we can build it in a closed in environment, so that we’re not susceptible to rain and all kinds of weather. Every day is production.”
Van Leeuwen explained that the Barrhead, Alta. plant has 18 staging areas for the modules to pass through over a nine-day period from first nail to last detail, with about five hours spent at each of the areas.
“Every bay has his job,” he said.
“So the first bay, for example, is where we build the floor trusses and roof trusses, and then we go to the next bay where they actually build and frame the floor. It moves ahead and we do all the plumbing and we put the decking on.”
From there, the floor coverings are applied before the unit moves on to have the walls erected in place.
Van Leeuwen explained that the plumbing and electrical are brought into a chase or common area, which lines up between the cube modules to be brought down into the basement.
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