Pump Station upgrades improve operations and safety, and reduce flood risk With over 1.4 million people, the Region of Peel in southern Ontario is a thriving municipality. With waterfront parks on Lake Ontario, and proximity to major highways as well as Toronto Pearson International Airport, the Region’s municipalities of Brampton, Mississauga, and Caledon are sought-after communities to live and work.

The Region manages wastewater and stormwater systems for the municipalities. Several existing wastewater and stormwater pump stations required upgrades to meet current standards and future requirements, and to improve accessibility for operations staff. The Region retained Associated Engineering to provide engineering services for detailed design and contract administration of five pump stations upgrades in Mississauga and Brampton: the Lakelands, Castlemore, and McVean wastewater pumping stations and the Finch and Malton Four Corners stormwater pumping

stations. The rated capacity of the stations ranged from 19 to 1,494 litres per second.

Manager of Water Resource Recovery, Suzanne Boyd, says, “Recently, there was a large flood event in the area around the Malton Four Corners Stormwater Pumping Station that highlighted the need to improve protection of equipment and address health and safety concerns.”

The upgrades include emergency storage in case of a power outage, electrical improvements, and inlet grinders at the wastewater pumping stations. A new emergency generator was added at the Malton Four Corners Stormwater Pumping Station. Access was also improved and permeable pavement was installed to reduce surface run-off. With the potential risk of more extreme weather events, the design team considered climate change and adaptation measures. For example, new emergency

2019 ISSUE #2

featured:p5 Edmonton

Climate Change Adaptation Plan

p7 Hong Kong Landfill Leachate Management

p8 Chilliwack High-Strength Wastewater Pretreatment Facility

Dry-pit submersible pumps at McVean Wastewater Pumping Station

Published by the Associated Engineering

Group of companies → continued on p2

The Heritage BC Annual Awards recognizes sustainable conservation of the province’s unique cultural heritage and celebrates excellence in heritage conservation in BC communities. In the category of Heritage Conservation, the Burrard Street Bridge Rehabilitation and Retrofit

project received the highest level of recognition with a Heritage Award for Outstanding Achievement.

The biennial City of Vancouver Heritage Awards recognizes the accomplishments of people and organizations who help protect Vancouver’s diverse built heritage and history. The Burrard Street Bridge project received

the highest level of recognition with an Award of Honour for demonstrating an outstanding contribution to heritage conservation.

Congratulations to Shane Cook, Project Manager for the Burrard Street Bridge project, and the project team!

Burrard Street Bridge Rehabilitation and Retrofit project wins pair of heritage awards

For the eleventh consecutive year, Associated Engineering has been recognized as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies, retaining our Platinum Club status. “This award would not be possible without our staff and their commitment, expertise, volunteerism, and combined efforts to make us a leader amongst consulting firms,” says Martin Jobke, President.

in this issue1 Pump Station upgrades

improve operations and safety, and reduce flood risk

2 Associated requalifies as Platinum member of Canada’s Best Managed Companies

Burrard Street Bridge Rehabilitation and Retrofit project wins pair of heritage awards

3 Martin Jobke announces leadership appointments

Kelowna hosts another successful AE Olympics

Shaping our Shared Future

4 ViewPoints - Building seismic resilience in our transportation network

5 Edmonton’s climate change vulnerability and risk assessment sets the stage for Climate Change Adaptation Plan

6 For Peter Lejcar, continuous improvement has been the key to professional success

7 Groundwater extraction system reduces leachate production at Hong Kong landfill

8 Biogas recovered at new Chilliwack wastewater pre-treatment facility provides energy for process heating

9 Highway 7 Corridor Plan will guide future development in Town of Kindersley

10 Building Communities

11 Employee News

New office location in Prince Albert, SK

12 Stormwater management facility in Town of Claresholm reduces future flood risk

If you’d like to receive AE Today electronically, write to aetoday@ae.ca

Associated requalifies as Platinum member of Canada’s Best Managed Companies

Shane Cook (left) at City of Vancouver award ceremony

Staff in our Kitchener office celebrate this year’s Best Managed Companies Award

storage at Castlemore, Lakelands, and McVean will reduce the risk of basement flooding and overflows. Also, new wet and dry wells at the Malton Four Corners Pump Station are designed to improve access and reduce health and safety concerns to minimize risk of flooding. Project Manager, Ed Salenieks, adds, “The Malton Station is located within the floodplain; therefore, all new structures were designed to accommodate the 100-year flood elevation. We provided raised hatches to protect process equipment and raised electrical panels to be above the flood elevation.”

The Lakelands Wastewater Pumping Station is located in a residential neighbourhood. Design Lead and Contract Administrator, Paula Steel, says, “The development is in an area with poor soils and a high water table. We had to investigate and evaluate various options to determine the best solution for the addition of two-hour emergency storage, such as in-line storage by means of microtunneling, and construction of an off-site storage tank. The project is currently underway, with phase one in construction and phase two in design.

→ Pump Station Upgrades continued from p1

Look for this icon to read more about a story on our website!

ISSUE 2 • 20192

Martin Jobke announces leadership appointments We are pleased to announce the appointments of Greg Kaupp, CET to Vice President, Risk Management and David Kuryk, CA, CPA to Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Greg is a Senior Civil Technologist with over 30 years experience specializing in transportation projects. David has 12 years of experience in accounting, controls, tax planning, employee benefit plans, and acquisitions. Congratulations, Greg and David!

Since 1998, Associated Engineering has hosted our biennial AE Olympics in Kelowna. What originally began as a hockey tournament in the 1970s and 1980s now features a wide array of sporting and non-sporting events.

The 2019 AE Olympics featured the highest attendance ever with 268 staff and guests hailing from almost every one of our 23 offices across Canada. The trophy events (hockey, soccer, golf, volleyball, and softball) were a big draw, as well as the non-sporting events (wine tours, biking, ziplining, and a boat dinner cruise) which contributed to the overall enjoyment and our record attendance this year.

Many thanks to Sam King and the organizing team for their stellar efforts in organizing another great AE Olympics.

Kelowna hosts another successful AE Olympics

Greg Kaupp

David Kuryk

Shaping our Shared FutureMeet members of our staff and learn about what they are doing in their professional and personal lives to help shape a more resilient, sustainable world. In this edition, we hear from National Practice Leader, Contaminated Sites, Rob Kupchanko.

Rob Kupchanko believes that land should be treated as a limited resource. In his 25-year career, Rob has seen an evolution in society’s perception of end-use capabilities when it comes to contaminated site assessments and remediation. Rob says, “The shift from standard ‘dig and dumps’ by removing contamination from lands to leaving contamination in place and developing passive or active in-situ remediation systems is a recent phenomenon.” An improved understanding of contaminated sites and the impact of climate change has promoted more awareness of site resilience, especially where consequences can be catastrophic from more intense storms, flood, and fire events. By utilizing the expertise of multi-disciplinary specialists in hydrogeology, hydrology, toxicology, terrestrial and aquatic biology, and climate science, Rob believes that in-situ remedial solutions informed by science has become the new normal for contaminated sites assessesment.

Rob (right) conducts a contaminated soil vapour screening for hydro- carbons using a Photo–ionization Detector (PID)

3

ViewPoints - Building seismic resilience in our

transportation network Don Kennedy, M.A.Sc., P.Eng.,

Vice President, Transportation StructuresMany earthquakes around the world have shown that rapid access to a functioning transportation network is among the most critical needs of a region, their businesses, and residents to respond and recover from a damaging earthquake. More work is needed in areas of high seismicity, like British Columbia, to understand seismic behaviour and any lack of resilience of our transportation infrastructure, and to conduct seismic retrofits and renewal of bridges, the key links in our transportation networks.

For over three decades, and in partnership with the Province of BC, the City of Vancouver, many municipalities and agencies, and also with the private sector, every major bridge in the Lower Mainland and many other bridges have seen a level of seismic retrofit. But more seismic resilience is needed to allow the Lower Mainland’s uniquely non-redundant transportation network, spanning rivers and harbours, to continue to function after an earthquake. This is particularly important given that the population of the Lower Mainland continues to grow at sustained rate that will add one million new residents in the next three decades – the short span of one engineer’s career.

Can we seismically update our transportation network while meeting the infrastructure functional and seismic needs of our growing population over the next three decades? Absolutely we can, and this must and will be done in parallel with society’s dramatic reductions in the use of fossil fuels.

In 2017 Associated Engineering, along with local and international seismic specialists, worked with the Province of BC and five ministries to complete the Province’s Integrated Earthquake Asset Management Plan. This plan established a vision for working together to improve the seismic resilience of our transportation network across BC. Implementation of this plan is crucial.

In recent years, we have developed and encouraged the adoption of performance-based seismic design methods and codes in

Canada. This framework allows, or forces, owners and engineers to communicate much more clearly on societal, owner and the engineer’s expectations for seismic performance and post-seismic recovery. In 2019, the National Bridge Code has been updated to include performance-based and seismic resilience into the practice of bridge retrofit. We must encourage owners of transportation structures to adopt this framework.

What’s next? In the past, climate and weather-related data and statistics were assumed to be ‘stationary’, e.g. their statistical measures did not change appreciably over time. This is no longer true.

How do we design new infrastructure for 75-year design lives when our environmental influences are changing significantly? How do we design for events with various ‘return periods’ that are no longer exist? What was a 50-year return period event can evolve into a 10-year or shorter hazard. How will society and code-writers of all forms of infrastructure deal with these changes?

The Canadian Standards Association for the National Research Council is currently working on a standard which will provide new and specific guidance to code writers to include climate-change resilience measures. These will be implemented into the 2024 National Bridge Code.

Don and other engineers at Associated Engineering are and will continue to work with standards committees, academia, industry associations, and various levels of government to improve the seismic resilience of our transportation structures.

For more information, contact Don Kennedy at kennedyd@ae.ca.

Don (bottom left) works with stakeholder group on the BC Earthquake Integrated Asset Management Plan

Award-winning seismic retrofits on the Mission Bridge Don Kennedy has more than 40 years of experience in the design and management of bridge and transportation structures projects across Canada and in New Zealand. A seismic specialist, Don has participated in the seismic assessment, rehabilitation, and retrofit of bridges. He has worked on most of the briges in

the BC Lower Mainland, including the Oak Street, Knight Street, and Patullo Bridges, and award-winning Mission Bridge. As Vice President, Transportation Structures for Associated Engineering, he assists with projects and pursuits across Canada. Don’s passion for seismic engineering extends to his volunteer efforts, including work on the National Bridge Code as well as BC’s Bridge Design Guidelines.

about the author

ISSUE 2 • 20194

Edmonton’s climate change vulnerability and risk assessment sets the stage for Climate Change Adaptation Plan Communities around the world are experiencing the effects of climate change, including more frequent and intense extreme weather conditions, such as rainstorms, snowstorms, heat waves, droughts, and unseasonal temperature and precipitation. Climate change impacts water resources, hydrology, ecology, agriculture, infrastructure, public health and safety, the economy, and society in general, and is posing significant challenges.

The City of Edmonton, Alberta, is taking a proactive approach to be prepare for and respond to climate change impacts. The City’s strategic direction on climate adaptation was first documented in Edmonton’s Environmental Strategic Plan, The Way We Green, approved by City Council in 2011. The document includes goals, objectives, and strategic actions to deal with climate change impacts. The development and implementation of a Climate Change Adaptation Plan for Edmonton will take place in three stages.

The first stage of Edmonton’s Adaptation Plan is a Climate Change Vulnerability and Risk Assessment. The City retained Associated Engineering to lead this project, with support from Risk Science International, All One Sky, and Alberta Water Smart. The goal of the project is to provide a comprehensive evidential basis on plausible climate change scenarios, vulnerabilities and risks.

Project Manager, Tonderai Chakanyuka, tells us, “The project involved a review of the City’s assets and services, including buildings, drainage, drinking water, wastewater, waste management,

roads, active transportation, air, electricity, fuel supply, information and communication, health, emergency management, and the economy. These assets and services were assessed for their vulnerability and the risk due to climate change, considering the geography, population, sectors, and activities within the city. The project supports the development of a robust adaptation and resilience strategy.”

Climate scenarios and potential climate hazards were reviewed for years 2050 and 2080. Seventeen climate hazards, such as flooding, heat waves, wildfires, snow storms, extreme cold, lightning, and drought, were identified as extreme or sudden-onset impacts.

Sustainable Design Specialist, Juliana Tang, says, “The assessment framework examined three impact pathways, including direct physical damage; indirect service loss resulting indirectly from damage to the assets; and direct service loss resulting directly from exposure of a service to the climate hazard.” Out of the impacts and service loss assessment, environmental, social, and economic consequence and likelihood are quantified and scored with input from the City of Edmonton, Government of Alberta, EPCOR, and various other associations, organizations, and individuals.

To overcome the challenges of uncertainties with climate models and consequences, the team provided explanations of potential impacts and risks on assets for the stakeholders. The results of the assessment provide a priority list for future adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Extreme dry weather simulation in Edmonton’s River Valley

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth

Assessment Report, along with numerous studies from

across Canada, provide evidence that climate change

is unequivocal, already resulting in a range of risks to

communities.

Simulation of extreme wet weather in the spring

5

For Peter Lejcar, continuous improvement has been the key to professional successGrowing up, Peter had dreams of flying the skies as a commercial airline pilot. However, he had an early exposure to engineering and a role model at home--his father was a mechanical engineer. Peter recalls, “My father was a very practical, technically strong engineer. He would complete his tasks quietly, letting his successes speak for themselves. He was my example of what an engineer should be.”

From a young age, Peter was inspired to commit to his studies and work hard--lessons his father taught him to achieve his goals. Upon entering university, Peter decided to study engineering, which coincidentally had the identical first year course load required to become a pilot.

Very early in his career, Peter was given opportunities to employ his entrepreneurial skills. In his first job, Peter created an entire engineering services division and hired some of his own staff. Inspired by a mentor, Peter soon established his own consultancy, where he learned valuable lessons on flexibility, and how to generate work and manage a business.

In his career, Peter continuously strives for improvement and advancement by assessing opportunities. It’s this philosophy that led him to Associated Engineering. He tells us, “Coming to Associated offered the opportunity to work with an industry colleague who I knew would make me a better engineer. Also, working with a growing, employee-owned company resonated with my entrepreneurial spirit.”

Peter joined Associated in 2013 as a Senior Project Manager, and now manages our infrastructure team in Kitchener and is a shareholder of the company. He works on and

leads a variety of infrastructure projects, from roads and roundabouts to bridges, drainage plans, and water, wastewater, and waste management facilities. He tells us that since joining Associated, the Homer Watson Boulevard, Fischer-Hallman Road, and the Waterloo Landfill Transfer Area Master Plan have been memorable projects, because of the strong relationships developed with clients and the project team.

Peter relates, “Part of a project’s success is open and honest communication with our clients. We’ve certainly based our success on providing a ‘Better Client Experience’ on every project we work on. My mantra is, your clients should feel like they are your only client.”

As a Project Manager, Peter shares that he has been able to flourish by working with an inspiring team. As a manager, Peter finds it very rewarding to lead the team and grow the Kitchener operation. Peter strives to lead by example and not worry too much about the ‘small stuff’. With his team, he enjoys having fun and getting to know each person’s potential.

He advises younger staff to learn as much as possible from mentors, and to never stop learning and improving. He understands that young professionals will experience a variety of challenges in their career, but it’s how they apply the ‘lesson learned’ in their future endeavours that matters.

Outside of the office, Peter enjoys staying fit, playing the guitar, listening to music, and spending time with his family. He also likes making stained glass windows, when he has time. And one day, Peter still hopes to fulfill his dream of becoming a licensed pilot.

Peter (2nd from right) with other staff in the Kitchener office

Peter heading out for a run

ISSUE 2 • 20196

With more than 7.5 million people, solid waste management is a complex undertaking for Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department. The department manages three open and 13 closed landfills.

The Pillar Valley Landfill in Tuen Mun in northwest Hong Kong received municipal solid waste from 1983 until 1996. This landfill is now closed and restored. Its operator, SUEZ NWS, continues to collect and treat leachate--water that has percolated through the landfill and leached out contaminants.

With more frequent and longer rainfall events, the surrounding catchment area of Pillar Point Valley Landfill was producing more groundwater, which subsequently resulted in an increase in weak leachate. SUEZ NWS retained Associated Engineering to undertake a multi-phase hydrogeological assessment of the landfill, and develop strategies to remove groundwater upgradient of the landfill to minimize leachate generation.

Project Manager, Norman Di Perno, tells us, “The landfill generates both strong and weak leachate. The strong leachate is driven by the movement of fluids through the waste mass, and the weak leachate originates from the mixing of groundwater and leachate at the landfill’s base, where the original leachate and groundwater collection systems are closely located.“

The project consisted of five phases. Phase I involved visiting the site, and analyzing a past hydrogeological study as well as historic rainfall and leachate and groundwater chemistry. Norm advises, “We recommended using level loggers

within select monitoring wells to help establish how quickly the fractured bedrock aquifer responds to rainfall events.”

During Phase II, we conducted a site-wide geophysics program, including magnetics, electro-magnetics, and resistivity surveys. This analysis of the subsurface bedrock structures identified the areas of structural weakness which had the highest probability of conducting groundwater into the downgradient landfill mass. The results helped to improve the placement of groundwater extraction wells.

Phase III involved the design and installation of 10 groundwater extraction wells (each are 200 millimetre diameter and 145 metres deep), camera logging, pump tests to establish sustainable well yields, and the design of the well pumping systems and controllers. Phase IV included ordering and arranging transportation of the equipment, and training staff to install the equipment.

Senior Hydrogeologist, Jacques Groenewald, says, “The data acquired from the telemetric logger installation helps us to understand the dynamics around rainfall, groundwater level rise and the response time or lag between them, and if pumps should be adjusted to pump at lower or higher rates during wet and dry seasons.”

Phase V involved additional geophysics (magnetics), eight additional groundwater extraction wells, and support for installation of the pumping systems. Associated is also supporting SUEZ NWS to install an InSitu down-hole logger system with a satellite connection allowing near real time review of the groundwater levels in select pumping wells.

In Hong Kong, rainfall patterns appear to be changing, with

more frequent and longer rainfall events. Rainfall

infiltration has increased within the Pillar Point Valley

Landfill, along with leachate production.

Bamboo bridge access to drill pad formationGroundwater extraction system reduces

leachate production at Hong Kong landfill

Development of extraction well

7

The Molson Coors Brewery in Vancouver is relocating to Chilliwack, BC, about 100 kilometres east of Vancouver. To accommodate the new business, the City of Chilliwack and Molson reached an agreement to construct a High-Strength Wastewater Pretreatment Facility for brewery wastewater at the city’s existing Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facility. The new $19.2 million pretreatment facility will treat the brewery wastewater, up to 2,210 cubic metres per day, before discharging the pretreated wastewater to the city’s municipal wastewater treatment facility.

The City of Chilliwack retained Associated Engineering to provide project management, design, and construction services for the pretreatment facility and the Kerr Street Pump Station and Forcemain, which will convey wastewater from the brewery to the new pretreatment facility.

The facility’s process comprises screening, pH control, nutrient supplement, anaerobic treatment, process heating, and aerated sulphide oxidation. One of the main benefits of anaerobic treatment is the opportunity to recover biogas. The recovered biogas is used to fuel a direct-heat combustion unit that provides trim heat for the pretreatment process.

Deputy Project Manager and Project Engineer, Michal Simhon, tells us, “We used a direct-heat combustion unit to heat the wastewater using a burner fed with biogas, natural gas, or a blend. This system eliminates the need for a biogas scrubber, boiler, boiler heat exchanger, and hot water heating

circuit. It also offers capital and operation and maintenance cost savings, is easier to use, and has a smaller physical footprint.”

Associated’s scope for the facility included site grading, slab design, equipment building (structural, mechanical, electrical, and controls), and tie-in and system integration with the municipal facility (including flare system, odour control, and utilities).

Project Manager, Helen Chan says, “Commissioning of the facility is contingent on the commissioning of the new Molson Coors Brewery. We had a tight schedule for design and construction, and the equipment had a long lead time for delivery. Therefore, we recommended that the City employ a Construction Management approach.” PCL Contractors Westcoast was selected as the Construction Manager.

Since commissioning of the new Molson Coors Brewery was postponed until the summer of 2019, the facility was commissioned with clean water and operated on a winterization loop to exercise the equipment. With the successful commissiong of the Molson Coors Brewery, the facility can be commissioned with wastewater.

New facility for treating high-strength wastewater supports development of brewery in Chilliwack, BC

Michal Simhon and Helen Chan inspect the newly built pre-treatment facility

Associated, PCL, and the major equipment vendor used

Plant3D to advance design.

ISSUE 2 • 20198

Highway 7 Corridor Plan will guide future development in Town of KindersleyThe Town of Kindersley is a community in west central Saskatchewan with approximately 4600 residents. Highway 7, which passes through Kindersley, is an important national transportation corridor that carries people, goods, and services between Saskatoon and Calgary.

The five kilometre section of Highway 7 in Kindersley has three signalized intersections (one at a provincial highway), and eight unsignalized intersections. There are parallel service roads in close proximity on both sides of the highway, contributing to traffic operations and safety issues at the intersections. In 2016, Associated Engineering completed a safety evaluation of 40 towns, which identified this location as a priority for safety improvements. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure engaged our project team to examine traffic operations and safety improvements, including service roads.

Project Manager, Shawn Fehr, tells us, “An online public survey of key issues garnered over 800 responses. These responses helped to establish eight key objectives, such as controlling speeding, adding lighting and other safety features, enabling trucks to safely access the service roads from the highway, and increasing safety for traffic turning onto the highway.”

The Ministry wished to weigh the options of upgrading signals, in particular at locations that are vulnerable to collisions, or reconfiguring the corridor without signals. The Ministry also wanted to balance mobility along Highway 7 for rural travellers and access to-and-from the highway for in-town travellers.

Associated provided overall strategic direction and led meetings and workshops with a Steering Committee comprised of Ministry and Town representatives. Together, they established a common vision, objectives, and potential solutions. From this, Associated developed three corridor alternatives.

Stakeholder Engagement and Transportation Planning Lead, Monique Beaudry, says, “We developed a traffic forecast for the 20-year buildout scenario and worked with the Steering Commitee to create a feasible growth plan within the 20-year horizon, drawing on the Official Community Plan, third-party development plans, and previous studies. A key priority was minimizing impact on existing businesses.”

The team completed traffic modelling for the current day and 20-year buildout for the three corridor alternatives and a ‘do-nothing’ scenario. Also, high-level utilities review and cost estimates were prepared.

Solutions include removing signals at two intersections, replacing one signal with a rural roundabout, and adding turning lanes at two intersections to accomodate increasing traffic. The solutions improve mobility and access to Kindersley. Alternatives were shared in a public open house and presented to Town Council, which subsequently endorsed the study.

The team documented the study in an Ultimate Corridor Plan, which will guide the Town and Ministry when planning future projects along the corridor. Key improvements recommended in the plan will be implemented in the next few years, including lighting and intersection upgrades.

Above: The proposed Highway 7 and Main

Street Intersection; below: Monique Beaudry facilitates

an open house event

“Stakeholder consultation was a major component of the project, which I felt was handled very well by AE... I was also pleased with the open lines of communication between the AE Project Managers and MHI...”

- Michelle Buchko, P.Eng., Government of Saskatchewan

Project Manager

9

Building Communities

Structural support in Central AmericaThe Only Love Early Learning Centre in Mal Pais, Costa Rica was in need of help. Taking some time out from a vacation in Costa Rica, David Harvey and his travelling companions jumped to the school’s rescue to build a support frame for the students to grow climbing plants.

Skipping spirit in the name of water charityIn April, Associated Engineering fielded two teams in the Water for People Curling Tournament fundraiser in Calgary. In total, the event raised $3,500 for Water for People. Thanks to (shown l-r) Liva Vallencuka, Duane Strayer, Joe Lisella, Jeff Huber and (not shown) Andy Barr, Jash Shetty, Anne Bridgman, and Dwight Carter.

Contributing to Lethbridge food banks“Let Donations Take Flight!” was the theme of our entry in this year’s Lethbridge CANstruction event, benefiting the Interfaith Food Bank Society. Thanks to Emilee Kaupp (Captain), James Walshe, Breanna Jackson, Ekpes Akpanudoh, Colton Gingras, Mark Seleski, Bradley McCord, Ben Leusink, Nancy Green, and Jessica Meaker who raised $4,500 to purchase the cans needed to construct this hot air balloon structure.

Supporting women in the BC Lower MainlandStacy Boczulak in our Vancouver office led a clothing drive for the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and the YWCA Crabtree Corner in honour of International Women’s Day. The office contributed bags of goodies for women and children in need. Thanks to Stacy and all those who donated to the cause!

GoFundMe campaign for Cyclone Idai reliefCBC Radio invited Elaine Mukarakate from our Edmonton office to be interviewed on the Edmonton AM radio program to discuss her fundraising efforts to help rebuild roads, bridges, and schools in Zimbabwe after Cyclone Idai tore through the area in mid-March. Elaine says, “As engineers, our primary duty is to serve the public - be it a disaster or building new infrastructure. I have come to realize that I can lead the change I want to see.”

ISSUE 2 • 201910

Employee NewsKirsten Davis, P.Eng. joined our Edmonton office as a Project Manager, and recently accepted the role as Manager of our Northern Region Infrastructure group. She has 22 years of experience in infra- structure design and construction, including water distribution, wastewater collection, roads, and stormwater management.

Tom Scott, P.E., LEED AP joined our Vancouver office as a Senior Structural Engineer, and recently took on the role of Manager of our Building Structural group. He has almost 30 years of experience designing commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings.

Jennifer Prive, R.P.Bio. has joined our Vancouver office as Manager, Environmental Sciences. She has over 20 years of experience in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem assessments, wildlife inventory, and environmental impact assessment and mitigation.

Ward Van Proosdij, M.Sc., Ing. has transferred to our Vancouver office from Kelowna. He is a Senior Hydrogeologist with almost 25 years of experience in water engineering, contaminated sites assessment, remediation, and environmental management.

Marko Paranosic P.E., P.Eng., has joined our Kitchener office as a Senior Project Manager. He has over 20 years of experience in roadworks, road expansion and reconstruction, bridges, and large-scale sanitary sewer and watermain trunk installation projects.

Domenic Di Flavio, Dipl. T. has joined our Niagara office as a Senior Transportation Planner. He has almost 20 years of experience in the preliminary and detailed design of traffic signals, signs, pavement marking, and traffic management plans.

Helen Dewhurst, PMP has joined our Edmonton office as a Project Manager. She has 20 years of experience in planning and managing projects and programs in the industrial and energy sectors.

Heather Robertson, AScT has joined our Kelowna office as a Senior Project Manager. She has over 25 years of experience in the design, construction, and project management of municipal infrastructure, land-use planning, and residential subdivision projects.

Congratulations to Keith Kohut, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., a Process Engineer in our Vancouver office, who received the 2019 Stanley S. Copp Award for his outstanding contributions to the BC Water and Waste Association (BCWWA).

Congratulations to Katrin Habel, Dr. sc. techn., P.Eng., Manager, Bridge Rehabilitation in our Vancouver office, who received a CSA Group Award of Merit for her contributions and leadership as Chair of the Canadian Highway Design Bridge Code FRC Task Force.

New office location in Prince Albert, SK Our Prince Albert office has moved! Our new Prince Albert office is located at:

579 – 28th Street West Prince Albert, SK S6V 4T1

Our contact numbers remain the same: Phone: 306.764.3040 and Fax: 306.764.3119.

11

Stormwater management facility in Town of Claresholm reduces future flood riskThe Town of Claresholm is a community of approximately 4000 residents located 125 kilometres south of Calgary. In 2014, the town retained Associated Engineering to conduct a stormwater management study and create a hydrologic / hydraulic model of their existing stormwater system. The main objective of the study was to confirm the system’s current capacity and performance and determine future capacity, based on growth and redevelopment. In addition, the town wished to assess the downstream impact of the drainage system and develop a strategic capital improvement plan to improve service levels.

Three months after the study began, Claresholm experienced a significant storm, with 160 millimetres of rainfall over two days. The storm caused overland flooding and extensive property damage.

In an ironic twist, this unfortunate event provided a unique opportunity to verify the stormwater model in real time. Project Manager, Darryl Schalk, tells us, “We used actual measurements and elevations taken during the flood event to calibrate our storm model.”

The team employed a risk-based

approach to develop the stormwater capital improvement plan. The plan identified 23 priority projects and recommended implementing the top ten projects over a five-year Stormwater Improvement Program.

Associated assisted the Town in successfully securing funding for the Phase 1 project under both the Disaster Recovery and the Alberta Community Resilience Programs. Phase 1

included detailed design, tender and construction services of Frog Creek Drain Channel Repairs, a new stormwater management facility, and 8th Street Ditch Upgrades.

The new stormwater management facility has four cells, each with deep and shallow ponds and wetland areas linked hydraulically through control structures. Within each cell, water flows through a curvilinear stream lengthening the time water takes to travel through the facility. Stormwater Engineer, Adam McDonald, says, “The facility improves stormwater quality before its release downstream to a creek. More than 140,000 wetland plants, willows, and trees were planted to provide additional filtering and environmental benefits for wildlife.“ The new facility provides nearly 200,000 cubic metres of active stormwater storage capacity.

The existing ditch along 8th Street West was enlarged to provide greater water flow capacity to reach the storm pond. Approximately four kilometres of ditch were upgraded, including twin 1300 millimeters diameter culverts at multiple road crossings, requiring significant coordination with landowners.

As the Phase 1 project neared completion under budget, Associated assisted the Town to secure Alberta Environment’s approval to expedite part of the Phase 2 storm project within Phase 1 funding. The work included stream widening and other improvements to a stormwater channel through the local golf course.

The stormwater improvements have already demonstrated their benefits to community resilience, protecting the town from flooding during the 2018 spring snow melt.

New storm pond and wetlands is one of the

largest facilities of its kind in southern Alberta

New stormwater pond improves the Town of Claresholm’s resilience to climate change

associatedengineering associatedengineeringassociatedeng associated-engineering

a carbon neutral company