Sage Condominiums: Phase II

HCM Group - Sage Condominiums: Phase II

Sage Condominiums: Phase II

The construction of the new Sage Condominium required a shoring system that could facilitate the 10 meter foundation depth while working within encroachment restrictions. RWH Engineering Inc. (RWH), an HC Group company, was responsible for the design and provided precision monitoring throughout the duration of the project.

This project was innovatively designed to meet the needs of the owner. Despite the deep excavation and high building surcharge, RWH created an efficient shoring system that utilized only one level of pipe rakers. The use of bypass shotcrete over a caisson wall system advanced the project schedule as vertical drilling time was significantly reduced, allowing excavation to begin sooner. Shotcrete lagging has a smaller environmental footprint than timber lagging and eliminates the issue of wood rot next to existing buildings.

Client: IN8 Developments
Location: Waterloo, Ontario

The innovative design along with proactive construction management by HCM was the key to meeting project milestones. The small site coupled with the large structural members required well planned material deliveries, site organization, and crew management.

The ability to work together to meet special requirements on any project is a strength of the HCM/RWH team.

Oshawa Mall

Oshawa Mall

The Oshawa Mall expansion was a large project that required several foundation and shoring services. HCM met the needs of the contractor by providing both tied back and cantilevered lagging shoring systems, shotcrete underpinning, and installation of caissons.

Client: Ledcor Construction Ltd.

Location: Oshawa, Ontario

RWH Engineering Inc. (RWH) completed the shoring designs and provided layout, as well as precision and vibration monitoring services. Taking on this additional scope, HCM/RWH were able to provide significant project cost-savings and minimize communication issues. On this project, the shotcrete underpinning design was superior to the conventional underpinning method and resulted in both schedule and cost savings due to the efficient construction process.

The HCM/RWH team provided services across multiple scopes of work, helping the contractor complete the project on time and within budget.

Spray River Bridge

Spray River Bridge

During the 2013 flooding in Southern Alberta, the Spray River undermined the foundation of a 24m long all season bridge causing the bridge to collapse.   As the bridge was located on a non-motorized pathway in Banff National Park – 10km from the nearest road – the project required a solution that took into account the remote location. 

The existing bridge was able to be reused, but required a new alignment and redesigned footings.  RWH worked in conjunction with Parks Canada to design a piling solution for the new foundation.  A major consideration was designing for future scour depths and therefore pipe micropiles were selected. The design included eight micropiles, each extending 12m deep. The equipment was trammed to the location using existing fire roads and a cable tram was used to access the far side as protection of the surrounding natural environment was a key priority on this project. 

HCM’s versatile team worked together to handle this small, yet challenging job and successfully met the client’s unique project requirements.

Client: Parks Canada

Location: Banff National Park, Alberta

Silver Creek Solar Farm

Silver Creek Solar Farm

For this project, HCM provided installation services to EllisDon for the helical pile foundations for future solar racking. Due to the stringent timelines and project milestones, HCM employed a total of four crews on this job to meet the project schedule.

A large challenge that HCM faced on this project was the harsh winter. HCM dedicated an auger mounted excavator on site for the second half of the project to allow for any necessary pre-drilling through the 500 mm thick frost layer. The schedule was maintained despite site shut downs due to below -30 temperatures, as well as site access issues resulting from the inclement weather. 

RWH Engineering Inc. (RWH) provided the field engineering support for the project, which allowed HCM to provide complete pile installation records. 

Client: EllisDon Corporation

Location: Aylmer, Ontario

The teamwork of the HCM crew members in combination with the attention to detail provided by RWH, and the positive team support provided by EllisDon resulted in the project being successfully completed within schedule and budget.

The Osterberg Cell

The Osterberg Cell

HCM was contracted to provide supply & installation of O-Cell load test on the New Calgary Library project located in downtown core of the city, in close proximity to the City Hall. The outcome of the load test was to determine the actual soil parameters for the foundation pile design on the project.

The O-cell is a hydraulically driven, high capacity, sacrificial loading device installed within the foundation unit. As the load is applied to the O cell, it begins working in two directions; upward against upper side shear and downward against base resistance and lower side shear (if applicable). Each O-cell is specially instrumented to allow for direct measurement of the O-cell’s expansion. O-cells range in capacities from 800 kN to 26,000 kN.

The scope of work consisted in installation of single test pile (1070mm diam. x 8.0 meters top liner casing, 910mm diam. x 8.0 meters rock socket). The overall length of test pile was approx.16 meters. O-cell was attached to the bottom of the steel frame c/w instrumentation connections, gauges, wiring etc.

Steel frame was manufactured in HCM’s shop, the O-cell was supplied by Loadtest Inc. HCM installed the pile in one day according to the timeline and specification requirements.

Client: Tetra Tech EBA

Location: Calgary, Alberta

Sarcee Trail

Sarcee Trail

The foundation of an existing residential apartment building in Southwest Calgary was compromised and required remedial measures to be completed. 

RWH designed a micropile underpinning system based on the initial geotechnical investigation. Together, HCM and RWH developed a testing strategy to confirm the soil bond strength and the design parameters obtained from the report. This involved installing and loading a sacrificial micropile to 250% of the design load. The test was successful and the remaining production micropiles were installed as designed.   

The challenging aspect of this project was working within the confined space beneath the building.  Initially having only a 1.2m headroom restriction, the installation areas were excavated to 2.3m below the bottom floor in a series of trenches and ventilation openings were constructed.  A low headroom? TEI rock drill was brought into the confined space in pieces and reassembled at the drilling locations.  Furthermore, the compressor for the drill had to be located outside the building.

These challenges were met with efficient and safe solutions by HCM.

Client: Madden Matthews Eng. Ltd.

Location: Calgary, Alberta