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Month: July 2023

Award-winning Highway 28 Roundabout addresses safety concerns and reduces traffic delays

Posted on by Jimmy Kokaji

The Highway 28 intersection northeast of Edmonton, AB, near the Village of Waskatenau, experienced issues with accidents, near misses, and traffic delays. A four way intersection at  the junction of two major highways, the intersection had free flow traffic traveling east/west and stop control north/south. Alberta Transportation engaged Associated Engineering as the prime consultant to design intersection improvements to improve safety and traffic flow.

During preliminary engineering, Associated’s project team proposed using a roundabout to solve the safety concerns, rather than upgrading the traditional intersection. A roundabout feasibility analysis clearly showed the roundabout as the preferred option. Alberta Transportation supported this recommendation. 

Project Manager, Warren McKay, advises, “The roundabout solution reduces the overall average delay time at the intersection. Our roundabout design used traffic calming splitter islands to slow approaching vehicles to safe speeds prior to entering the roundabout.” 

Following preliminary engineering, Associated completed detailed design, the tender package, construction supervision, contract administration, and post-construction services for the new roundabout. The team designed a dual-lane roundabout, and tendered a single-lane roundabout for construction. The dual-lane design allowed for future expansion of the roundabout to the inside of the existing travel lane. 

The roundabout was also designed to accommodate the supersized loads that move from the Edmonton area to the Alberta oil sands. Warren tells us, “The accommodation of the supersized industrial loads expected through the roundabout presented challenges. Ultimately, we decided to use medians with a semi-mountable curb to allow the supersized loads to cross over to the other side of the road and go through the roundabout against the flow of traffic. This solution works since the supersized loads must be permitted and can be made aware of the intended path by the permitting office. The supersized load vehicles also travel with enough flag people to shut down all traffic at the roundabout for a few minutes to allow the load to proceed through.”

Project challenges included the need to construct the road through wetlands, a higher than average rainfall during construction, borrow source location and quality, roundabout truck apron constructability issues, and drainage course culvert redesigns.

“Strong collaboration between the project team and the client helped to resolve challenges as they arose and identify solutions, allowing the project to advance without any significant delays.”

As Alberta Transportation experienced delays in obtaining funding to proceed with the construction, Associated Engineering recommended that the intersection be changed to a four-way stop control as an interim stage from 2013-2020.

Work began on the roundabout with the construction of detour roads. After the detour roads were completed, removal of the old highway intersection commenced to allow the roundabout to be built. While three-quarters of the roundabout could easily be built while traffic occupied the detour roads, the final leg of the roundabout required an additional temporary traffic accommodation. 

Transportation Engineer and Construction Inspector, Tyler Nisbet, says, “The new roundabout successfully slowed traffic through the intersection and improves safety while maintaining flow.”

Subconsultants on the project included Hoggan Engineering and Testing, and McElhanney. E Construction was the Prime Contractor on the project. 

At the 2022 Transportation Connects Conference presented by the Consulting Engineers of Alberta, the project team (Alberta Transportation, E Construction, and Associated) received an Alberta Transportation Partnering Award, for embodying the principles of partnering – respecting all team members, communicating proactively, sharing lessons learned, and celebrating success. 

Supporting technology adoption and change management

Posted on by Jimmy Kokaji

As engineering consultants, we rarely discuss our role in advising and assisting clients with adopting new technologies and managing change. Clients trust us to deliver infrastructure projects, and now often seek our assistance in planning, selecting, implementing, and testing technology solutions. 

Our role in technology, information management, and change management can range from technical to operations improvements, depending on the client’s organizational readiness and capacity. 

The extent of our responsibilities varies based on the sector and clients. We support change management efforts by identifying future roles and responsibilities for managing the new technology and data, or by developing user training programs. 

On infrastructure engineering projects, we mitigate the risk of failure through design measures such as redundancy and safety factors. We carefully choose materials and equipment that are tested and proven, and we follow a systematic approach from concept to design, leveraging industry standards and our experience to meet short- and long-term client needs. 

We enhance the value we provide by incorporating adaptability into our designs. This ensures that the assets we create can accommodate changes in the operating environment. There is the same expected level of care and consideration for technology selection, adoption and advancement.

By effectively mitigating risks and designing with the future in mind, we deliver solutions that address our clients’ needs in a complex and rapidly evolving landscape.

What does it mean to take a systematic and supportive approach to these projects? 

A systematic approach refers to a structured and methodical way of approaching a task, problem, or process. It involves following a predefined set of steps or a logical sequence to ensure consistency, efficiency, and effectiveness in achieving the desired outcome.

Clearly defining this approach helps to “demystify” and guide the client through the entire decision-making process. In a systematic approach, each step builds upon the previous one and contributes to the overall objective. The process typically involves the following key activities: Analysis and Planning; Design and Development; Implementation and Execution; Evaluation and Feedback; and Continuous Improvement.

Analysis and Planning: This stage involves gathering information, analyzing the situation or problem, and defining the goals and objectives. We collaborate with the client and stakeholders to understand the context, identify constraints, and develop a comprehensive plan to guide the subsequent steps. On technology projects, this can take the form of a Needs Assessment, Concept of Operations, analysis of business process and workflows, technology landscape and systems architecture, and determination of the key drivers of success, and potentially, new roles and responsibilities.

Design and Development: In this phase, documents such as the Needs Assessment are translated into a design or solution with clearly defined specifications, technical and/or performance based. This phase may involve creating pilot projects, a test bed to conduct experiments or developing models to help visualize impacts (e.g. responsive or adaptive signal control along a transportation corridor with failing levels of service). This phase aims to ensure that the solution is well-designed, feasible, affordable, and aligned with the desired outcome. Through several iterations, the procurement strategy becomes clearer based on all the information available. Associated Engineering may support or be directly responsible for the Request for Proposal (RFP) package, including system specifications, contract terms and conditions, and definition of key milestones and deliverables for the technology supplier. Often, we develop scoring criteria on behalf of our clients to balance price, technology functionality, and performance history that aligns with project objectives and offers the best value.

While it is important to establish a baseline and acknowledge that it does not change quickly, clients can and do grow and evolve during the project as they become more aware of challenges and opportunities. This information may shift the outcomes of the Design and Development activities which we must align with a client’s short-, medium-, and long-term needs before proceeding into procurement. 

In our upcoming Fall 2023 issue of AE Today, Judy will discuss Implementation and Execution; Evaluation and Feedback; and Continuous Improvement of technology.

About the Author

Judy Yu, P.Eng., PMP is Discipline Lead, Data Management & ITS in Associated Engineering’s Calgary office. She has 23 years of experience managing major Intelligent Transportation Systems programs and projects, focusing on innovation, operational improvement, ongoing sustainability, and information management. Judy is a senior member of Associated’s Strategic Advisory Services team and a member of the ITS Canada Board of Directors.

Post-flood, source-water risk review and water system recovery plan protects water quality in the City of Merritt

Posted on by Jimmy Kokaji

In November 2021, an atmospheric river combined with a large, early snow pack, and warm temperatures led to wide-spread flooding of the roads, bridges, and water and wastewater systems in Merritt, BC. The city’s 7000 residents were evacuated for weeks, with some families still unable to return to their homes over a year later.

Associated has worked with the City of Merritt since 2012, when we assisted with preparing an integrated stormwater plan. In 2016, we completed a source-water risk assessment and protection plan. During development of the source protection plan, a Technical Advisory Committee was established, including planners, administrators, and operators, and regional health authority representatives. 

Project Manager and Senior Hydrogeologist, Marta Green, tells us, “The Committee reviewed the drinking water hazard inventory, discussed the risk ranking (likelihood of occurrence x magnitude of consequence) of each hazard, developed actions to reduce the likelihood of hazards, and developed emergency response plans for hazards over which the City has less control.” 

Some key technical aspects of the Source Protection Plan that aided in the post-flood work included redundancy in the well field (the City has five wells, with four within the inundation zone, and only one well with electrical damage); redundancy in water treatment (three different ultraviolet (UV) and chlorine water disinfection stations); and source protection controls at the well head (data logger conduit openings at the well-head were plugged).

Five days after the 2021 flood, first responders allowed access to the technical support team to start recovery, and Associated’s team mobilized to site. The project team had already instituted some flood protection measures. 

“We reviewed the scouring at the river edge and at the well sites, as well as well-heads for evidence of breaches of flood water. We also reviewed the air photos of the upper watershed for signs of new hazards and contaminants of concern.”


The team re-assessed the transport mechanisms to assign the “likelihood of occurrence”, including “direct entry”, “preferred pathways”, and groundwater recharge. They found that no flood water entered the secure well-heads, and no major preferred pathways were identified. The team determined that the well water was safe to drink, once treated to meet drinking water treatment objectives for Groundwater at Risk of Containing Pathogens (GARP) wells.

The project team also met with Interior Health’s Drinking Water Officer and City operators, to review the new draft risk rankings and the action plan. The actions taken included re-contouring the scoured areas around the well-heads, and a robust sampling program to confirm the updated conceptual model of groundwater flow. 

For the water system recovery plan, the team set up “trigger” field parameters, so the operators could quickly test if a well contained “flood water” or “well water”. We also created a GIS database to show “pass” (green) and “fail” (red), to focus on target areas.

The Source Protection Plan was updated to consider emergencies and potential disasters; extra effort was made to ensure the well logs and details were easy to find. 

Process Mechanical Engineer and Water System Recovery Lead, Matt Lozie, says, “As a result of our planning and preparation, as well as our strong relationships with the City, we worked as a team under an extremely stressful environment. The City was able to reduce the Do Not Consume Order and then remove the Boil Water Advisory within three weeks.” 

Associated is also supporting the City’s flood mitigation planning, and wastewater receiving environment sampling and reporting. The flood planning and dyke building is currently in early planning stages. The City is working on a plan to make sure the well infrastructure can withstand a flood event, including having all electrical panels above the flood level, air release valves for well flushing above the flood level, sealed well-heads, and remote treatment operation. 

Our key personnel on the project include Marta Green, Christine Indrigo, Aaron Yarumchuk, Matt Lozie, and Grant Dixon.

Rehabilitation of Battleford Truss Bridges restores heritage structures and improves access

Posted on by Jimmy Kokaji

For almost a century, two steel truss bridges have served as a main transportation route to the Town of Battleford, located 138 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, SK. The historic structures cross the North Saskatchewan River, providing access for vehicles and pedestrians from the Town to Finlayson Island.

In 2003, the Town took ownership of the bridges from the Province of Saskatchewan, and since then Associated Engineering has worked with the Town to monitor the aging structures. In 2018, the Town engaged Associated Engineering to undertake a more thorough condition review of the structures. This led to the development of a Ten-Year Management Plan that provided the framework for financial planning of operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation activities as well as condition priorities. The plan incorporates all repairs (minor and major), maintenance, and studies/investigations recommended.

With the plan, the Town obtained Federal funding for rehabilitation of the north truss bridge. Project Manager, Justine Meyers, tells us, “A new, longer jump span was designed and the eroded bridge abutment slope was reshaped and armoured. We provided a rehabilitation design addressing the tight timeline restrictions of the funding. Grant funding requirements stated that the project needed to be substantially completed by December 31, 2022. Considering post-pandemic supply chain issues, an extension was granted to allow for substantial completion in Spring 2023.”

“We developed an innovative construction approach to address the restricted access to the jump span, allowing the continued use of this community link.”

The design required capacity upgrades to the south bridge to allow for construction access; with the load restriction on the south bridge, material weight and equipment sizes were carefully selected. Increased lead times for items such as steel girders and precast concrete had to be accommodated within the schedule.

Meeting the budget and design schedule was an important achievement, considering post-pandemic supply chain and cost-escalation issues. The successful tender for the construction works was within $6,000 of the grant funding received for the project. Thus, the Town was not required to contribute any additional funds to the project at award. 

Now, larger vehicles can access Finlayson Island for provision of emergency services, maintenance of the grounds, or work on the structure itself. The project also incorporates many of the improvements recommended in the Ten-Year Management Plan to increase the useful life of the structures.

The project success can be attributed to the project management team’s proactive scheduling and communication with suppliers and contractors


The design took environmental considerations into account, as the solution only required reshaping and armouring of the banks. Construction was completed with minimal impact to habitat, aquatic life and wildlife, and therefore required much simpler environmental measures. Environmental permitting was achieved in time for construction, even with the condensed design timeline.


The rehabilitation of the Battleford Truss Bridges allows for the long-term, safe continued use of the north bridge as a pedestrian/cyclist corridor between Battleford, Finlayson Island, and North Battleford. The design is also resilient to climate change, allowing larger river flows to pass below the structure without compromising its use. The cost-effective, environmentally sustainable rehabilitation restores the bridges for Battleford for decades to come.

For Andrew Wiens, determination and a collaborative mindset are keys to success

Posted on by Jimmy Kokaji

With a lifelong interest in physical fitness, Andrew Wiens, Discipline Lead, Water Resources in our Calgary office, remembers his high school sports coach’s mantra of ‘mental toughness’. Today, he applies this approach everyday at work and at home by not giving up easily on any tasks, stretching his capabilities, and developing new skills.

While attending the University of British Columbia for his civil engineering degree, Andrew worked for the City of Vancouver as a co-op student on the drainage design for Vancouver’s first sustainable street. The experience led to his decision to focus on water resources as a career path. Andrew says, “Developing the stormwater management design on the project and learning about the analytical tools was a very interesting challenge.”

Later, he worked with Radloff & Associates in Prince George, BC as a co-op student. Andrew credits the owner, Bob Radloff, with providing him with great advice, including to get experience working in the field on construction projects early in his career.

As a Water Resources Engineer, Andrew tells us, “I’ve enjoyed the wide variety of work and the opportunity to collaborate with many subject matter experts. Their guidance has helped me to grow my skills, improve my industry knowledge, and build my problem-solving abilities.”

In the early part of his career, Andrew notes the Urgent Mitigative Flood Works project and the City of Calgary Northwest Inner-City storm drainage project, as being especially memorable. The former was an emergency project to improve existing flood protection infrastructure in advance of the 2007 flood season. Andrew recalls the work was delivered as a fast-track, design-build project and successfully raised 15 kilometres of flood protection berms in just two months. 

Andrew says, “The Calgary drainage project was technically challenging, as we were asked to build a large, highly detailed model of the urban drainage system – something that hadn’t been completed on a large scale before.” Andrew shares that he wanted to find a systematic way of developing these models to make development more cost-efficient. Andrew’s efforts resulted in Associated later receiving an invitation to present our work in Copenhagen at an International Water Resources Conference. 

Following the 2013 flood in Calgary, Associated was engaged to expand the model along the Bow River and identify drainage solutions to mitigate flood risks within several communities, including the Sunnyside neighborbood. 

When asked what attracted him to join Associated Engineering 17 years ago, Andrew tells us, “I was attracted to the breadth of work that Associated Engineering’s Water Resources team undertakes. I’ve worked on a variety of projects, from planning to field assignments. I’ve had the opportunity to carry a project from concept through design and construction, such as the Pitt River Intertidal project in Coquitlam, BC.”

Andrew tells us that his work philosophy is based on working collaboratively with colleagues, as a team. Andrew also finds that engaging the right subject matter experts early in projects helps them go smoother. 

Today, Andrew enjoys sharing his expertise and mentoring young staff. For young people thinking of consulting engineering as a career, he advises, “I found the university co-op programs to be very useful. I was able to get a wide variety of experience in both the municipal government and consulting sectors. This really simplified the process for me in selecting my career path in the consulting industry as a water resources engineer.”

Andrew volunteers with the Canadian Water Resources Association, and is also a member of Natural Resources Canada‘s Climate Change and Floodplain Mapping Technical Working Group.

Outside of work, Andrew enjoys going to the gym, as well as cooking, especially BBQ’ing or smoking meats; his favourites are pulled pork, brisket, and chicken!

Comprehensive assessment and database helps Parks Canada to protect our national heritage

Posted on by Jimmy Kokaji

Parks Canada, an agency of the Government of Canada, protects and showcases Canada’s natural and cultural heritage, including 47 national parks and 171 national historic sites. The Agency is responsible for approximately 18,000 assets, including buildings, facilities, grounds, roads, marine assets, and utility systems across Canada. The stewardship and sustainment of this large asset portfolio presents significant challenges due to limited budgets, the dispersed locations, and the remoteness of many assets.

In 2022, Parks Canada engaged Associated’s Strategic Advisory Services team with subconsultant, Dillon Consulting, to review a select asset portfolio from 12 of its national parks. The inspections and assessments captured information on over 350 assets to identify trends in investment needs, including repairs and renewals, operations and maintenance, accessibility and code-related needs, climate adaptation, and energy/greening opportunities. 

Project Manager, Owen James, shares, “We had a very short window of opportunity to carry out the inspection work – after the winter snows had receded and before the spring opening of the parks to the public. Our inspections could not disturb visitors’ activities.” 

“Following our inspections, we analyzed the information we gathered and garnered insights from Parks Canada on costing for both construction and operational activities. We then evaluated regional climate pressures and other factors to determine the climate hazards and risks faced by each asset and the associated investment needs for the Agency.”  

The inspection information and subsequent analysis has been captured in databases – a valuable tool that will allow Parks Canada’s local field units to more effectively plan and manage their assets. The databases also support data consolidation, providing users with access to extensive data, including photographs, lists of components, life expectancies, condition information, renewal forecasts, recommendations, preventive and expected reactive maintenance needs, climate risks and recommended actions, energy profiles and opportunities, and accessibility improvement recommendations. As well, the databases provide a data-driven and holistic evaluation of investment needs to support the Agency’s budget submission to the Federal government.  

Other than the site assessments, the team had limited data about the assets; thus, costing for assets in unique locations across Canada was a challenge. The project team engaged a wide range of subject matter experts from across Associated and Dillon, together with information from Agency staff, reports, and national cost databases, to develop replacement and repair costs for the assets, considering the local construction markets, labour rates, remote locations, and heritage factors. Investment Planning & Cost Estimating Lead, Graham Lang, says, “The collective information enabled us to forecast the sustainment needs for the assets more accurately.”

Understanding climate risk, energy, adaptation and greening and maintenance needs was also challenging. Twyla Kowalczyk, Climate Change Resilience Lead, advises, “We developed unique models based on the data collected and held in databases, and used the Retscreen Energy modelling, Climate Atlas of Canada, and our own in-house climate and maintenance models to determine the actions and costs required to maintain the assets, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve resilience of the asset portfolio.” 

This asset management project helps Parks Canada to maintain a safe, accessible, and enjoyable national parks system for visitors today and in the future

The on-site assessments, analysis, and database provides Parks Canada with insights and information that is useful at a national and local level. Owen says, “The work has been very well received and the Agency has subsequently engaged Associated to improve data collection processes and templates, evaluate maintenance needs for all 18,000 assets across 35 field units and to provide recommendations for governance and procurement of maintenance works for the Agency.” 

Associated’s key personnel involved on the project were Owen James, Shane Thompson, Graham Lang, Twyla Kowalczyk, Jaimie Sokalski, Craig MacDonald, and Tanner Hudson.

Shaping our Shared Future – Ashley Hodgson

Posted on by Jimmy Kokaji

Ashley Hodgson is a Structural Engineer in our Saskatoon office. She leads the structural team on many multi-disciplinary building projects across the province, including water, wastewater, agriculture, and landfill projects. 

Since 2019, Ashley has sat on the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan (APEGS) Investigation Committee. She was recently appointed Vice Chair of the committee for a two-year term. Ashley’s role on the committee includes reviewing complaints brought forward by other association members, as well as from the public. The committee comprises 13 engineers and geoscientists who specialize in different disciplines

Over the past few years, the number and severity of structural investigation cases that the committee reviews has increased significantly, resulting in the need for more structural specialists on the committee. Ashley provides the committee with structural context on cases and asks valuable questions during the interview process. Her involvement on the committee has shown Ashley the importance of self-regulation in our industry, as well as the tremendous value provided by Associated Engineering’s quality management process.

As well, Ashley was previously involved for ten years with the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) Saskatoon Chapter and served on the planning committee for the 2020 CSCE Conference held in Saskatoon.

Outside of work, Ashley enjoys spending time with her family and hopes her contributions will help shape a better future for her daughter and our communities.