Telus Sky tower
The Telus Sky tower will be the 3rd tallest building in Calgary with the deepest basement excavation in western Canada. HCM Group took on the challenge of creating a shoring system suitable for the 30m excavation. RWH designed the shoring system with an 11m deep perched secant wall and shotcrete was used in the bedrock to stabilize the rest of the excavation. HCM contractors were responsible for the installation of the perched secant wall and the shotcrete.
The project was not without its challenges. These challenges included neighboring structures, the LRT system that ran adjacent to the site, existing Telus utilities and limited working space within the excavation. An extremely sensitive Telus duct bank ran adjacent to the excavation and the movement of the bank had to be kept to a minimum. RWH had to take this into consideration when designing the wall. The footprint of the excavation was only 2,100m2. HCM contractors were able to work strategically with other sub-contractors to ensure work could be carried out seamlessly in the small area. RWH provided precision monitoring of the shoring, neighboring structures and the LRT line. Monitoring reports were provided twice a week until the excavation reached sound bedrock and it was then reduced to weekly.
HCM Group were able to use their experience with similar past projects to design and construct a shoring system that was suitable for the 30m excavation. The shoring moved 75% of what was originally predicted, proving it was more than adequate.
Client: Icon West Construction
Location: Calgary, Alberta
