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.

K2 Condominiums

HCM Group - K2 Condominiums

K2 Condominiums

This development on King Street in Waterloo required approximately 15,000 SF of shoring for two levels of underground parking. RWH Engineering Inc. (RWH) designed a piles and lagging shoring system with rakers to reach depths up to 9 meters. Wet fine sands required careful excavation and lagging in small lifts to ensure no ground loss occurred. High surcharges imposed by surrounding buildings required the rakers to be jacked in order to lock in the design load to minimize shoring movement.

Due to HCM’s efficient construction and project management, this project finished on time and on budget

Client: U.I.D. Developments Inc.
Location: Waterloo, Ontario

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.

Weston Road

Weston Road

The Metrolinx Weston Tunnel project will serve as a below grade rail corridor for the GO Georgetown line linking the airport to downtown Toronto. HCM was subcontracted by KO Constructors to design, supply, and install several shoring systems as well as deep foundations.  

The project scope consisted of two shoring walls spanning a total distance of 2.6 km, ranging from 4.5 to 14 meters in depth. The shoring walls consisted of both bypass shotcrete and caisson wall to provide railway protection and allow for continuous GO train service. Precise coordination between all parties was required when drilling as close as 100 mm to the operational tracks.

HCM worked closely with the general contractor and owner to meet strict scheduling goals. HCM employed up to 5 large diameter drill rigs at one time, performed night work, and readily adapted to changes in the shoring scope to allow for early excavation and structure installation. RWH Engineering Inc. (RWH), an HC Group company, performed the precision monitoring on the project and was also involved in the design process, enabling accelerated design changes.

The Weston Tunnel project is an example of the service HCM and RWH can provide to a large scale project where schedule goals are important.  The HC Group is able to develop solutions and adapt to any changes in conditions allowing the project to progress without delays.

Client: KO Constructors

Location: Toronto, Ontario

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.

Herald Block

Herald Block

HCM was chosen to provide a comprehensive design-build shoring solution for Phase 1 of Brookfield Place development, which will become the tallest building in Western Canada. The excavation spanned a city block and extended 22 meters deep. The shoring system, designed by RWH Engineering Inc. (RWH), was comprised of an 11 meter deep perched caisson wall above shotcrete, which continued into the rock for the remaining depth of the excavation. 

The challenges faced on this project included old foundations encountered during drilling, surrounding tightly clustered utilities, vulnerable neighbouring structures, and the adjacent light rail transit (LRT) system. HCM met these challenges with close attention to detail and meticulous planning to prevent any utility conflicts and structural damage. RWH completed the precision monitoring of the shoring and adjacent structures providing weekly reports to all stakeholders for the duration of the project. 

Client: EllisDon Corporation

Location: Calgary, Alberta

HCM was able to use their experience on past projects to design and construct a shoring solution that worked with the varying soil conditions at depth. This solution resulted in a more sustainable project as the perched wall required less material than a traditional full depth caisson wall, and provided project cost and schedule savings. Brookfield Place is an example of the ability of the HC Group to work together and overcome challenges in complex projects.

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

65 Lillian Street Condominium Building

65 Lillian Street Condominium Building

65 Lillian Street Condominium Building

Work on this jobsite included the excavation support system for a new condominium building located on 65 Lillian Street in Toronto, Ontario. HC Matcon used soldier piles and shotcrete lagging shoring (SPLS) with soil nails to support the excavation of an approximately 30-foot deep underground parking garage.

One challenge of this project was the close proximity of the excavation to the property line of the adjacent residential buildings. The consultant’s design included a caisson wall for this part of the system. HC Matcon proposed an alternative to save the owner and general contractor money, schedule time, and square footage of finished building by applying an equivalent system of shotcrete shoring and soil nails. This system will also act as a one-sided form for foundation walls.

During this project, there were some unforeseen obstacles for the shoring installation that required avoidance.

Utilities were found between the shoring system and the adjacent existing building footings to be demolished. HC Matcon was able to modify the pile design to support these utilities during demolition.


Other concrete obstructions were avoided by using an alternative pipe pile design to satisfy property line constraints, a perched walkway for the access of neighboring houses, and to facilitate the demolition of the existing parking garage.

HC Matcon will take on many challenges related to shoring and foundation design while keeping the interests of the general contractor and owner in mind.

Client: Lewis Build Corporation
Location: Toronto, Ontario

TTC Patten Building

TTC Patten Building

HC Matcon was retained to install micropile foundation for TTC Patten Building on 835 Davenport Road, Toronto. The building was originally designed for storage of paper tickets and when TTC transitioned to using tokens the increased loading caused settlement and structural issues which required strengthening of its foundations. 

The project consisted of drilling and installing 90 micropiles to a depth of 15M.  Working conditions presented an issue as drilling was restricted in a basement of an existing building where headroom was 3.5 meters high. HCM mobilized the Klemm low headroom drill rig in order to complete the project with productions to meet the strict deadlines required from TTC. 

The project was completed in a timely fashion and on budget. HC Matcon is well equipped to deal with difficult conditions presented on any project and are experts in micropile installations.

Client: Toronto Transit Commission & Buttcon LTD.

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Twinning of the West Trunk Sanitary Sewer

HC Matcon - Twinning of the West Trunk Sanitary Sewer

Twinning Of The West Trunk Sanitary Sewer

This project includes the installation of a deep trunk sanitary sewer within bedrock under Erin Mills Parkway in Mississauga. HCM together with RWH Engineering proposed an innovative and economical design and construction process for shoring the manholes and access shafts using caisson compression rings. Challenges that had to be dealt with included designing the compression ring to withstand large uneven surcharges caused by a close embankment in addition to large surface loading by a crane. To ensure the safety of the shoring system RWH Engineering is providing precession monitoring utilizing inclinometers.

Client: McNally Construction

Location: Mississauga, Ontario

 

Twinning of the West Trunk Sanitary Sewer - Caissons