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Month: October 2021

Associated presents at Engineers & Geoscientists British Columbia 2021 Annual Conference

Posted on by Ryan (ODG)

Associated Engineering is proud to participate in this year’s Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia’s Annual Conference, which is being held virtually once again. We invite attendees to hear and learn from our presenters on Thursday, who will be discussing two important projects related to water infrastructure in a remote Indigenous community, and rehabilitating one of Vancouver’s most iconic transportation structures, the Burrard Bridge.

Community Circle Approach to Project Delivery for First Nations Communities
Thursday, October 28 | 9:00 AM – 9:45 AM
The Lhoos’kuz Dene Nation’s main residential community of Kluskus is situated approximately 200 km west of Quesnel, on Kluskus Lake. Access to Kluskus is by forestry roads and year-round access is difficult/limited during winter and spring thaw. The Nation has been working towards clean, safe, and reliable drinking water for over 20 years, and has been supplying bottled water for drinking/food preparation/cooking since early 2000’s. TRC: Calls to Action states “Commit to meaningful consultation, building respectful relationships, and obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples.” Our commitment to this call to action was through the adoption of a Community Circle Approach for this project. This approach involves open dialogue and idea-sharing from all members of the Community Circle. The aim is to encourage and facilitate full, honest, and respectful collaboration with the Nation from feasibility investigation through to construction and Water Operator training.
AE Presenters: Freda Leong, Robyn Casement

Constructed in 1932, the Burrard Street Bridge was designed to carry six lanes of traffic over False Creek in Vancouver. Associated Engineering provided engineering services for the retrofit and rehabilitation of the bridge, including inspection, assessment, retrofit and rehabilitation of bridge components.

Burrard Bridge Rehabilitation Project
Thursday, October 28 | 1:00 PM – 1:45 PM
This session will present the structural and functional renewal of the Burrard Street Bridge. The Burrard Bridge is a massive, 870 m long concrete and rivetted steel truss bridge spanning False Creek, connecting Vancouver’s downtown peninsula to the city further south. This heritage Art Deco structure opened as a six-lane gateway bridge in 1932 and remains a beloved city landmark. Seeking to address significant deterioration the project addressed significant rehabilitation needs, restored failing or missing heritage features, and incorporated functional enhancements to allow the bridge to continue to meet the City’s needs.
Presenters: Shane Cook, David Harvey

Associated Engineering supporting Climate Resilient Burlington project

Posted on by Ryan (ODG)

Associated Engineering is supporting the City of Burlington to develop a climate change adaptation plan titled “Climate Resilient Burlington” (CRB) that will be used by the municipality to adapt to the changing climate and minimize the severity of resulting impacts. The goal of the CRB is to create a community wide plan, informed by both internal and external stakeholders, that addresses the risks and identifies opportunities to Burlington’s built, natural, social, and economic systems associated with warmer, wetter, and wilder weather. Implementing the plan will focus efforts from reactive to more proactive measures. 

To date, Associated Engineering has:

  • Identified most significant past or current climate hazards faced by Burlington (probability and consequence)
  • Reviewed and confirmed climate impact statements ensuring all relevant sectors, assets, or services expected to be most impacted are considered
  • Engaged staff and community stakeholders by hosting and facilitating workshops to help define vulnerabilities and risks for city operations and the community. 

The City of Burlington, with support from Associated Engineering, is hosting a virtual launch of the CRB project this Wednesday, October 27th. The free event is open to the public and will provide a high-level introduction of the project and feature keynote speaker David Phillips, Senior Climatologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada. In “Weather and Climate: It’s Not What Our Grandparents Knew”, David will highlight what’s happening to our weather, what we should be worried about, and what we can do to make a difference and be better prepared.

For more information and to register, please visit here.

Red Deer’s Water Treatment Plant Residuals Management Facility will reduce environmental impacts associated with treating water

Posted on by Ryan (ODG)
Red Deer Water Treatment Plant Residuals Management Facility – Exterior

The City of Red Deer in central Alberta is the province’s third largest city. With a thriving economy and more than 105,000 residents, the city operates a 150 million litre per day conventional, surface water treatment plant that draws water from the Red Deer River. The facility provides safe, clean drinking water to the city and its regional customers. 

The City of Red Deer engaged Associated Engineering to improve management of the residual waste streams produced by the water treatment plant. The solution, a new Residuals Management Facility, will treat up to 6 million litres per day of clarifier blowdown waste from the plant’s Actiflo® clarification process before discharge to the Red Deer River. 

Red Deer Water Treatment Plant Residuals Management Facility – Interior

Treating clarifier blowdown waste before its discharge to the river will reduce the visible plume created by the current discharge, reduce solids sedimentation and associated impacts on fish habitats, improve the river’s aesthetics, and encourage recreational activities. By improving the quality of the waste stream, the City is demonstrating its leadership and commitment to environmental stewardship and meeting environmental regulations. An additional waste stream, backwash water from the plant’s filters, will be sent to the Red Deer wastewater plant for treatment.

Envision Certification Lead & Process Support, Jill Townsend, tells us, “It was a pleasure to assist the City in its pursuit to obtain Envision® certification for the project.” Envision® Awards are available to projects that have successfully completed the Envision certification program offered by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. The project was evaluated based on Envision’s 60 sustainability criteria that address  impact areas of quality of life, leadership, resource allocation, natural world, and climate and risk. 

Some key sustainability achievements and verified results include:

  • Minimizing noise and vibration during plant operation with a target of 50 decibels at night
  • Reducing operational energy consumption by 23.6% compared to industry norms
  • Recycling, reusing, and diverting 75% of the construction waste
  • Supporting sustainable procurement practices
  • Preventing surface and groundwater contamination.

In conceiving the design of the new building, engineers, architects, and City staff collaborated to create a design that blends aesthetically with the surrounding area. The design reflects some of the architectural features of the original Water Treatment Plant No. 1 that is no longer in service. Bricks are incorporated in the facade, replicating a feature of historic buildings in Red Deer, including the nearby, above-ground reservoir. Designers also applied an aggregate finish on precast concrete panels to tie-in with the architecture of the active water treatment plant.

Regulatory approvals were identified as one of the key risks on the project. Project Manager, Risto Protic, says, “The approval sought by this project, to discharge treated water treatment residual waste to a water course, sets a precedent in Alberta. In anticipation of regulator scrutiny, we worked with the City to proactively engage the regulator to address potential concerns and respond in a timely manner to keep the process moving on the required schedule.” We tracked the progress of regulatory approvals to allow all parties to be informed on the progress and potential issues.

Red Deer Water Treatment Plant Residuals Management Facility – Stormwater Rain Garden

Our key personnel on this project include Risto Protic, Joe Lisella, Jeff Huber, Gabriel Jean, Joe White, Mark Ingalls, Gates Billodeau, Candice Pearce, and Jill Townsend. The project is expected to be completed in late 2021. 

[AE75] Senior management appointments

Posted on by Ryan (ODG)

As we celebrate our 75th anniversary in 2021, we take a look back at our legacy of achievements and milestones over the years, as chronicled in our company newsletter that began publishing in 1967…

Originally appeared in AE Today, Fall 1996 issue


The Board of Directors of the Associated Engineering Group is pleased to announce the following head office and subsidiary company appointments which were effective July 1, 1996: Vince Borch, Chairman and CEO;  Alistair Black, President; and Kerry Rudd, General Manager, Associated Engineering (B.C.)


Vince Borch, previously President and CEO, recently returned to the west coast after six years in our head office in Edmonton. 


Alistair Black joined Associated Engineering in 1974. For the past six years as Vice President and General Manager of the BC operation, he has led the organization through a period of significant growth and achievement. 

Kerry Rudd has successfully and continuously taken on increasing respon­sibilities since joining the firm in 1982 as a Project Engineer. Prior to this appointment, he was Group Manager of Drainage, Site Services, Bridge and Construction Services in B.C.

Upgraded Loon River First Nation Water Treatment Plant will provide a reliable, high quality water supply

Posted on by Ryan (ODG)
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Located 450 kilometres north of Edmonton, Alberta, Loon River First Nation is a community of approximately 600 residents. Over the years, the community has received its drinking water from Loon River. With seasonal algae blooms and high organic carbon, this water source is not ideal. The challenging conditions can lead to taste and odour problems and disinfection by-products formation that exceeds regulatory limits. In addition, plant operators have difficulties accessing and maintaining the raw water pumping facility. To mitigate these concerns, Loon River First Nation wanted to assess alternative water sources, including groundwater or a regional water supply from the Peace River. 

Regional water solutions are common in Alberta and benefit communities and government in the long-term. However, regional water projects typically take years to gain momentum and funding support. Project Manager, Jeff Fetter, advises, “Connecting to the regional water supply would require a significant capital and lifecycle cost premium, partnering with a third-party utility company, regulatory approvals, and funding support from the Provincial and Federal governments.” Loon River First Nation decided a regional water supply would unlikely serve their needs in the next five to ten years, but would remain a long-term option.

Associated Engineering developed a solution using the existing surface water supply. We developed a three-phase plan, focusing first on improving the existing systems and then considering future needs. Our team worked closely with Loon River First Nation and Indigenous Services Canada to define phasing, schedule, funding, and annual budgets for the project.

Phase 1 involved improving the treated water quality by upgrading the raw water intake, implementing nanofiltration, upgrading the chemical system, reconstructing the truckfill pad, and improving miscellaneous water system components. Phase 2 of the project will improve the capacity of the plant by upgrading the pre-treatment process and pumping system. Phase 3 would involve identifying a long-term alternate water supply.   

The Phase 1 design phase started in 2019 with a pilot study to demonstrate the effectiveness of reverse osmosis filtration membranes to remove total organic carbon, hardness, iron, and manganese from the raw water supply and establish design parameters for the full-scale system. Jeff explains, “Pilot testing was also important to determine if pre-treatment or post-treatment is required and identify operating issues for design consideration.” 

With out-of-date facility record drawings, our team completed a virtual reality capture of the existing facility to enable development of a 3D model of the water treatment plant. The model assisted in the design of retrofits and tie-ins, which was particularly valuable as the detailed design phase was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the existing facility modelled, our team could clearly show the integration between the new and existing buildings. Jeff shares, “The 3D model allowed operators to provide input and feedback and resulted in design improvements and modifications to meet the operators’ needs and optimize spaces.”

A new building was designed to house the new membrane nanofiltration system, including equalization tanks and transfer pumps; modern chemical feed systems; electrical room for the motor control centre, programmable logic controller and electrical distribution equipment; new wastewater lift station to handle additional flows from the water treatment plant; and relocated truckfill. To improve access for water trucks, we also expanded the entrance of the water treatment plant to accommodate truck turning. We also designed a new electrical service and emergency power system. The design considered future pre-treatment improvements and ultraviolet disinfection system. Construction began in June 2021 and is scheduled to be completed in December 2022. 

Key staff include Jeff Fetter, Jacques Groenewald, Matt Somes, Nicholai Kristel, Norm Villeneuve, Hu Kou, Chris Parfitt, James Sharpe, Zhi Gu, and Bryden Coonan.

City of St. Catharines implements combined sewer overflow abatement strategy

Posted on by Ryan (ODG)

Located in the Niagara region in south-central Ontario, the City of St. Catharines is known as “The Garden City” with its lush parks, gardens, and trails. As such, maintaining and enhancing park amenities were important components of the city’s Burleigh Hill/Glendale Avenue combined sewer overflow (CSO) abatement strategy and infrastructure project.

The City retained Associated Engineering to provide design and construction services for new combined sewer overflow (CSO) control works, sanitary sewers, a watermain, and road and intersection improvements in the Burleigh Hill / Glendale Avenue area. The project included a new CSO tank constructed within Glengarry Park, located north of the intersection of Brookdale Avenue and Glengarry Road. During a major storm event, any overflows from sewers will be directed to the CSO tank. 

Dan MacDonald-Lockhart, Structural Engineer, explains, “The CSO tank stores up to 3,200 cubic metres of combined sewer overflow until a storm passes. Sewage will then be pumped back into the sanitary sewer system. Initial results of the geotechnical investigation indicated a deep foundation solution was required for support of the tank. Our structural team worked with the geotechnical subconsultant to provide an alternate solution that resulted in a shallow foundation, saving substantial costs.”

Careful planning and design of the CSO tank, including its size and location, were required to minimize potential impact to properties backing onto Glengarry Park. Following the CSO tank construction, Glengarry Park was reinstated with a new recreational trail, basketball court, playground equipment, and landscaping. 

Other works implemented as part of the project include upsizing the Glengarry Road and the Burleigh Hill Drive sanitary sewers, ranging in diameter from 375 to 600 millimetres. In addition, a new dedicated bypass sewer was installed along Warkdale Drive. The existing cast iron watermain was replaced with a new 400 millimetre diameter PVC watermain.

This project was completed as a joint effort with the Regional Municipality of Niagara. The project team addressed deteriorating roadway pavement conditions and traffic operational and safety issues, and designed new asphalt pavement, traffic signals, streetlighting, curbs, storm sewer reconnections, sidewalk, cycling facilities, landscaping, and streetscaping along Glendale Avenue and Burleigh Hill Drive.

“These improvements to the road infrastructure aligned with the Region’s strategic vision for long-term transportation needs in Niagara by providing pedestrian and cycling facilities. New infrastructure improves the integration of the roads and highways network for the movement of people and goods.” – Project Manager, Mark Belanger

In addition, the City’s CSO abatement strategies met the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) Procedure F-5-5, providing additional protection against basement flooding.

The $8 million project was successfully completed in the fall 2020. 

Key personnel on this project included Mark Belanger, Herb Kuehne, Don Bai, Dan MacDonald-Lockhart, Lindsay Mooradian, Dave Harris, Kerri Hildebrandt, and Stan Angrilli.