Kids in Cranston, Alberta will have a brand-new, LEED-certified school to look forward to once their holidays are over.
Christ the King Catholic School is the first of the Alberta Schools Alternate Procurement project’s buildings to open.
The Calgary Herald reports the school was built as part of Phase 1 of ASAP which will also see the opening of two other Catholic schools: Our Lady of the Evergreens (K-6) in Evergreen and Light of Christ (K-9) in Saddle Ridge, and six new public schools: Bridlewood (K-6), Cranston (K-4), Evergreen (K-4), Royal Oak (K-4), Saddle Ridge (K-3), and West Springs (K-5).
“We had a real backlog of construction; to have six of them come on line this year for 2010-11 is very exciting for us,” says Calgary Board of Education chair Pat Cochrane.
This P3 project made the Top 100 list last year. Work is also underway on the second phase of the project, where an additional ten schools are expected to be built.
Out of the on-going tug of war between the owner of the Ambassador Bridge, Manuel Moroun, and the officials who want to build a second span over the Detroit River, comes a new idea: an emergency bridge that can be deployed as needed.
But will it float?
The Toronto Star reports on a new idea for a floatable bridge that can be rolled out as back-up for the aging Ambassador Bridge.
Connecting Windsor and Detroit, the Ambassador Bridge is the busiest commercial border crossing in North America with nine million vehicle crossings a year. Planners in both countries want to build a new structure to replace the deteriorating, 81-year old bridge.
CNN Money reports on the new bridge proposal and the billionaire blocking its way.
This year’s Top 100 Infrastructure Projects list represents over $68-billion in infrastructure investments in Canada. The fact that 46 of those projects are new to the list is an indication of just how robust the infrastructure industry in Canada was in 2009.
Projects on this annual listing of the biggest infrastructure undertakings in Canada are ranked by dollar value—that’s the cost of the project including all stages and elements, down to the nuts and bolts in a billion-dollar power plant or the cement and steel needed for a new bridge. To be considered, a project must be under construction or at least have reached financial close.
The upcoming Olympic Games in British Columbia had stacked the list over the last few years with projects like the $2-billion Canada Line and the remediation of Southeast False Creek. Now that those projects are complete, an influx of transit projects in Ontario has replenished the list. There are scores of rail improvements and light rail transit (LRT) and bus rapid transit projects in the works, including GO Transit improvements and VIA Rail investment.
Beyond two LRTs in Alberta and some subway upgrades in Quebec, the rest of Canada is weak on transit investment. That doesn’t mean the winner for greatest number of projects on the list is transportation. It’s health care.
Not only do health care projects outnumber all others on the list, but they account for 18 of the 34 public-private partnerships (P3s) on the list. Besides the 34 P3s on the list, only a handful of other projects involve private funds. Out of the top 25 projects, only two aren’t publically funded. Then again, these are mostly public works projects. We chose to disqualify certain projects that have a large amount of private financing because they don’t fit under our definition of infrastructure. Both commercial/residential developments, as well as oil and gas pipelines, have been omitted from the list.
The Hualapai Valley Solar Project will use molten salts to store excess heat so that it can provide electricity when it is most needed during peak hours. Credit: Mojave Valley Solar
From “bluefield development” to record-breaking solar fields, Canada’s not the only country showcasing some top-ten-worthy projects. Some noteworthy North American projects were highlighted at a recent conference.
Sunrise Powerlink Transmission Project
US$1.9 billion
There is enormous potential for solar, geothermal and wind energy that remains untapped in San Diego County and the sunny Imperial Valley. According to the California Energy Commission, this is partly due to a lack of transmission lines in California to connect green energy supplies found in the state’s rural areas to populated centres like San Diego. San Diego Gas & Electric wants to transmit renewable energy from Southern California and Arizona to populations further west, with the added benefit of ensuring reliable electricity transmission to So-Cal residents as well as reducing their power costs. To accomplish this, a 500-kilovolt transmission line will be built along with several 230-kilovolt transmission lines that will extend from the Imperial Valley to San Diego. Proponents will be seeking construction permits in early 2010—but the project isn’t home-free yet. It’s currently involved in US$200 million in litigations that may stall its progress or shut it down completely.
Hualapai Valley Solar
US$2 billion
Mojave Valley Solar LLC is pursuing the development of a 340-megawatt solar generating station that would be the largest of its kind in the world—the solar field would be three times the size of New York’s Central Park. Mojave will capitalize on the U.S. Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program for renewable generation projects. Before it can proceed, the project must acquire additional financing. Construction is set to begin before the end of 2010 in order to capitalize on stimulus incentives, and is scheduled for completion in 2013. The company issued RFPs to U.S. and Spanish companies over the summer—Spanish companies have strong expertise in this field—and has brought on German-based Fichtner Solar to design the project.
Oaxaca Wind Farms II, III. IV
US$496 million
The 300-megawatt wind project being developed by the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) includes a US$400-million investment by the Mexican government. The company that is awarded the contract for the three wind farms will operate, own and maintain the facilities and deliver the electricity generated by the CFE for the designated period of time. The project is in the tender stage right now—there will be three separate contracts—and the farms are scheduled for completion in 2011.
$2.63 billion
Sector: Transportation
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Key Players: Spadina Link Project Managers – a joint venture between Hatch Mott MacDonald Ltd., Delcan Corporation, MMM Group (prime design consultants); AECOM (engineering design); Arup Canada (engineer, design); Foster and Partners, Adamson Associates, Alsop Architects (architect), H. H. Angus (mechanical & electrical engineering consultants); Hatch Mott MacDonald Ltd. (tunnel engineer)
Owner: TTC
Financing: Public – $1.1 billion from the provincial government, $696 million from the federal government, $600 million from the City of Toronto, and $400 million from York Region.
Status: Scheduled for completion in 2015.
Project Details: The Spadina Subway Extension is the largest transit expansion project to be undertaken by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) since the Bloor-Danforth Subway line was built 40 years ago. The TTC subway network will go beyond the City of Toronto limits for the first time and link neighbouring communities in York Region. The 8.6-kilometre extension to the existing Spadina subway line will be underground, and will add six more stations, including a new station at York University. The TTC is managing the project’s design and construction and will own and operate the subway extension.
$2.46 billion
Sector: Transportation
Location: About 37 kilometres from Vancouver to Langley, British Columbia
Key Players: Peter Kiewit & Sons with Flatiron (design-build contractor); H5M – a joint venture of Hatch Mott MacDonald, TY Lin International, and MMM Group (prime design consultants); Kiewit Flatiron General Partnership (constructor)
Owner: Province of British Columbia (Transportation Investment Corporation)
Financing: Public – The provincial government entered into a fixed-price design-build contract with Peter Kiewit Sons Co. and Flatiron Constructors Canada Limited. The estimated cost of the PMH1 was $1.6 billion in our 2009 publication, but Hatch Mott MacDonald has confirmed that the cost is now $2.46 billion.
Status: Scheduled for completion in 2013.
Project Details: Initiated in 2007 as part of the Ministry of Transportation’s Gateway Program, the PMH1—one of the largest transportation network projects currently underway in North America—has had some hiccups getting started. But a contract signed with Kiewit-Flatiron in March 2009 ensures that cost overruns or construction delays are the responsibility of the contractor, not the Province. All costs will be recovered by electronic tolls, which would have been in place even if the project had gone ahead as a public-private partnership (P3) as originally planned. The project involves widening 37 kilometres of highway, including twinning/replacement of the major Port Mann Bridge crossing of the Fraser River.
$1.6 billion
Sector: Energy
Location: Taskinigup Falls, about 45 kilometres ?southwest of Thompson, Manitoba
Key Players: Hatch, KGS Group (consultants)
Owner: Wuskwatim Power Limited Partnership – ?an equity partnership between Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN) and Manitoba Hydro. The Project Development Agreement allows for NCN to own ?up to 33 per cent of the station.
Financing: The $1.6-billion price tag is for a generating station and transmission.
Status: Scheduled for completion in 2011. Current projections show that Manitoba’s domestic demand for new power is not required until 2020, but by advancing the in-service date of Wuskwatim from 2012 to 2011, WPLP is hoping to gain additional export revenues and profits.
Project Details: The Wuskwatim Generating Station is one of the province’s largest construction projects. The 200 MWstation project includes an access road, construction camp, and other infrastructure. On May 17, 2009, concrete placement on the station’s spillway structure began, marking the first of approximately 110,000 cubic metres (m3) of concrete and 7,000 tonnes of reinforcing steel that will be used by the time the project is completed.This is the first time Manitoba Hydro has entered into an equity partnership with a First Nations community on a generating station project.
$1.6 billion
Sector: Energy
Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario
Key Players: Strabag AG (design-build contactor); ILF Beratende Ingenieure (tunnel designer); Morrison Hershfield (designing above-ground work); Dufferin Construction (major subcontractors); The Robbins Company (tunnel boring machine supplier);Hatch in association with Hatch Mott MacDonald (owner’s representative); Rowa (TBM backup equipment); Sunny Corner Enterprises (electrical)
Owner: Ontario Power Generation (OPG) Financing: Public – OPG has a design-build contract with Strabag AG. This project was listed at $950 million on last year’s list, but the cost has increased by 62 per cent. It remains to be seen who will swallow that extra cost, the provincial body or the design-builder.
Status: Scheduled for completion in 2013.
Project Details: Ontario Power Generation is working on a third tunnel beneath Niagara Falls to generate additional power at its Sir Adam Beck Power generating stations on the Niagara River. Existing twin tunnels and a hydro canal currently supply approximately 1,800 m3 of water per second to the Sir Adam Beck Generating Stations. The new tunnel will divert an additional 500 m3 of water per second and, with an internal diameter of 12.7 metres and a length of 10.2 kilometres, is expected to be one of the largest tunnels built in North America. But Big Becky, the massive boring machine that’s digging that largest tunnel, has run into some unforeseen geology and is behind schedule. OPG told CBC news that the project will be late and over budget, but the details are still under review.
