$546 million

2012 Rank: 56

2011 Rank: 55

Sector: Water/Wastewater

Location: The Regional Municipalities of York and Durham

Owner: The Regional Municipality of York

Key Players:

Project/Construction Manager: A joint venture of Hatch Mott MacDonald and AECOM (detailed design and construction management);

Contractor: Strabag (prime contractor, tunnel contractor)

Supplier: Armtec Holdings (pre-cast concrete tunnel lining); Caterpillar, formerly Lovat (tunnel boring machines)

Other: AECOM (integrated EA)

Funding: Public

Description:

This project has been in development since 2002—though the EA was just approved in early 2010. The earth pressure balance TBMs, which avoid requirements for dewatering and impacting the aquifers, and the segmental precast concrete tunnel lining have both been procured. In 2009, Pickering’s city council initiated legal proceedings against York Region regarding the proposed twinning of York Regions sewage collection pipe, which carries sewage to the Pickering plant for treatment. The issue started when York Region planned to build an odour control facility in Pickering. In response, Pickering residents began a community organization called Stop the Stink in order to ensure that this facility did not get built. However, after York and Durham Region received EA approval from the Ministry of the Environment, the City of Pickering opted to try and settle the matter with York Region out of court. In the end, Pickering gained $10.3-million in road improvements and waterfront trail expansion. In addition, York Region agreed to fund an engineer for the City of Pickering to oversee the project at a cost of $377,000.The lawsuit was officially cleared in August 2010. In August 2011, York Region announced that construction will begin shortly. Construction was originally scheduled to start in early 2011, with completion scheduled for 2014.

$6.5 billion

2012 Ranking: 3

2011 Ranking: 1

Sector: Hydroelectric

Location: Havre-Saint-Pierre, Quebec

Owner: Hydro-Québec

Engineer: AECOM (detailed engineering on Romaine-1, preliminary engineering on Romaine-4, design, mechanical consultant); SNC-Lavalin (detailed engineering for the Romaine-2 development project)

Contractor: Thirau ltée, a subsidiary of CVTech Group Inc.

Supplier: Alstom (turbines: Romaine 2)

Funding: Public

• Hydro-Québec does not single out individual projects for specific funding. Generally, new projects are funded by ratepayers and the issuance of debt. Because of the relatively low interest rates the utility can access, it has primarily been using long-term bonds, maturing between 2040 and 2050. This type of financial structure works well for Hydro-Québec because the length of the bonds tends to match the service life of many of its operations.

• Bonds are placed on the Canadian bond market and are mostly syndicated through the six largest banks in Canada, as well as Laurentian Bank Securities, Desjardins Securities, Casgrain & Company, and Merrill Lynch Canada.

Description:

Hydro-Québec’s 1,550 MW hydroelectric complex on the shores of the Rivière Romaine, is still on track for completion in 2020. It was the biggest construction project in Canada until the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and Site C clean Energy Project (this year’s new number one project) overtook it.

By Barry LePatner

In New Jersey, amidst much controversy, Gov. Chris Christie recently killed plans to build the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) tunnel under the Hudson River after claiming that the State could not afford the project’s ever-increasing costs. In Wisconsin, newly-elected Governor Scott Walker announced that he will end plans for a federally-financed rail project between Milwaukee and Madison for the same reasons. Governor-elect John Kasich of Ohio announced immediately after his election that he intended to cancel two major projects expected to go forward: the Cincinnati Streetcar and the 3C passenger rail projects

With new U.S. infrastructure projects such as these succumbing to the cost overrun-plagued legacies of projects like Boston’s Big Dig and construction at Ground Zero, our friends across the border should also take this opportunity to closely examine how cost overruns continuously run projects with great potential into the ground.

Cost overruns affect projects on both sides of the border. Dating back to the Montreal Olympic Stadium, Canada itself has a long history of notable megaprojects that have experienced large cost overruns. More recent projects, such as the downtown tunnel in Ottawa (which will appear on this year’s Top 100 list) and the pedestrian tunnel in Toronto that would connect to the Island Airport, have been the subject of much debate and concern due to the possibility of delays and high costs.

The good news is that there are ways to end cost overruns that have plagued most  construction megaprojects—solutions that will work on both sides of the border. Rather than halt projects that have the potential to bring jobs and an economic boost to the areas where they are needed—the ARC tunnel could have brought 6,000 construction jobs to New Jersey and could have greatly improved commercial shipping in the area—public officials should take a close look at solutions that will address concerns of lawmakers about open-ended costs for these projects and  bring needed changes to the construction industry, by eliminating unwarranted and costly delay claims and cost overruns.

While there is no way to eliminate all construction exigencies that may occur on large-scale projects, they can be identified and quantified during project negotiations allowing all involved to agree on a fixed cost before construction begins if they eventuate. Doing so would require the public authority and bidding contractors to negotiate a true fixed-price contract for the known scope of the work. All identified and priced contingency line items would be backstopped by the national government which also would have a cap on its share without recourse to unnecessary overruns. To ensure that all funding is properly applied to the project by the construction team, transparency would be guaranteed by independent auditors who would oversee payment requests of the contractors, suppliers and other team members..

With a system such as this one in place, cities, states, and provinces don’t have to miss out on projects that if completed efficiently and on budget could significantly benefit them. It is time to sit down and discuss how we can reform this system rather than kill infrastructure projects that could greatly benefit both the U.S. and Canada.

Barry B. LePatner is the author of Too Big to Fall: America’s Failing Infrastructure and the Way Forward. He is founder of the New York City-based law firm LePatner & Associates LLP.

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.

ARC Project – Trans-Hudson Passenger Rail Tunnel
US$7.6 billion
The project entails the construction of a new two-track tunnel and an expansion of Penn Station New York—currently using a century-old rail system—to accommodate the region’s growing number of commuters. The commuter rail tunnel would more than double its capacity. US$110 million is being invested in this project through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The project is currently in the environmental review and preliminary engineering phase and is scheduled for completion in 2017.

Empire State Building ?Green Initiative
US$100 million
About 75 per cent of the buildings in the United States are more than 20 years old and require energy retrofits—including the 78-year-old Empire State Building. This green renovation is sponsored by Puerto W&M Construction, with the Clinton Climate Initiative acting as an advisor. Along with Johnson Controls, the Rocky Mountain Institute and Jones Lang LaSalle, a plan was developed to reduce the building’s energy consumption by 38 per cent—that represents a savings of approximately US$4 million a year in energy costs.

San Diego Floating Airport
US$20 billion
This proposed project is a floating airport ten miles off the coast of San Diego. According to Ocean Works CEO Adam Englund, this is the best and one of the few options available for the city. San Diego’s only airport, Lindbergh Field, is the busiest single-runway airport in North America. An offshore airport wouldn’t encroach on any other airports, there would be no noise complaints from residents, and pilots would not have to navigate around numerous large buildings. And are they building a tunnel to get there? Not exactly. Travellers would use high speed watercraft to be transported to the airport (take note, Toronto). There’s also talk of a deep-water port for ships. Renewable energy would be used to power the complex—during the presentation it was iterated several times that nothing like this exists in the world. But there are a lot of obstacles to overcome before it exists, including a skeptical public and variables such as fog, large waves, shifting tides and the corrosive properties of seawater. What’s most interesting here, though, is the idea. “Bluefield development,” as Englund calls it, could become standard operating procedure for coastal cities around the world in the next 50 years or so. It may be the only reasonable response to the near impossibility of building mega-projects today in most of North America and Europe.