Geotechnical, Materials and Environmental Engineering

Challenges

• Maintain familiarity with project requirements, with design just keeping ahead of construction.
• Ascertain the most critical areas and those most likely to be deficient, for quality verification.
• Establish and maintain an effective working relationship with a large contingent of QA/QC staff and the owner’s representative.
• Ensure the quality of products manufactured outside Canada and the U.S.

Challenges

• Project completed ahead of schedule.
• PPP project that adopted innovation in design and construction.
• Services provided to the concession holder included oversight, verification and expertise to concessionaire.
• New to Province of Alberta – Structural concrete placement 12 months a year in all weather conditions.
• New to Province of Alberta – Pouring of structural concrete year-round, regardless of weather conditions.
• New to Province of Alberta – Bridge girder casting on site (outdoor environment) year round.

Challenges

• Supervise the continuous pour of the concrete.
• Control the temperature of the fresh concrete during the summer and monitor its internal and external temperatures.
• Establish effective communications between Canada and Asia.

Challenges

• Executed work in a remote area (Northern Quebec).
• Built 100 km of winter roads and two ice bridges to transport materials.

Dessau helped expand and modernize Montreal’s international airport, increasing the airport’s capacity and improving passenger services. The project included the construction of a new international terminal, US departures area, a hotel and a three-story parkade. Dessau also helped plan the reconfiguration of the road that links the airport to the new Dorval interchange.

Within the scope of this project, Dessau offered its expertise in the following areas: transportation and infrastructure, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, construction (Verreault) and geotechnical engineering (materials analysis and control).

This tremendous undertaking, which took 5 years to complete, required more than 5,275 metric tonnes of reinforced steel and 1.6 million cu. ft. of concrete, nearly 330 piles and 16 caissons. In addition, prefabricated cement concrete structural elements had to be manufactured and installed. The total construction area covered approximately 2 million sq. ft. Finally, the existing tarmac had to be demolished and rebuilt.

Dessau’s geotechnical engineering specialists were called in as consultants at the manufacturing and construction sites. They verified the structural steel, watertightness of the foundations, the underground parking flagstone, the elevated drop-off lane and the entire roofing works.

Our mechanical and electrical experts managed to design the building to consume 30% less energy than a conventional building. Thanks to their efforts, this building not only produces 1,160 fewer tonnes of greenhouse gases annually, it also meets stringent quality and security standards. This fast-track project stands out due to its scope, complexity and incorporation of sustainable development principles.

Dessau’s transportation and infrastructure teams were responsible for designing and supervising the tarmac and parkade reconstruction, as well as reconfiguring the road network (including drainage) and phasing the road works.

Challenges

• Ensure that the airport remains functional during the construction work.
• Coordinate a set of multidisciplinary teams working on the project while respecting tight deadlines.
• Respect the airport’s safety and security standards.

Prizes and Awards

• Armatura Grand Prize of the Decade, Institutional category, awarded by the Quebec Reinforced Steel Institute (IAAQ) in 2010.
• 2004 Award of Excellence for Steel Construction, Commercial/Institutional category, awarded by the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC).

Challenges

• Strike a balance between scheduling demands and the quality of manufactured products.
• Ensure ongoing training of new partners and sub-contractors from around the world, particularly with regard to work methods.

Challenges

• Coordinate the various activities, as well as the materials engineering and environmental management disciplines.

Challenges

• Re-use contaminated soil as backfill for road construction works and import excavated soil from a nearby roadwork project.
• Use statistical analysis to reduce the number of exploratory drilling and chemical analyses from 1,300 to 400 to characterize the Turcot Yards site (as required by the Minister of the Environment).
• Develop the Turcot Yards to store construction materials from the old structures.

Challenges

• Provide services 24/7.
• Adapt to last-minute changes in the construction schedule.