Associated Engineering projects recognized at ACEC-BC Awards

Congratulations to our project team of Julien Henley (Project Manager), Natalya Kucherenko, Dale Harrison, Steve Root, Emma McGowan, and Bob Smith, whose Baxter Bridge Rehabilitation project took home an Award of Excellence for Projects Under $2.5 Million, at the recent ACEC-BC Awards ceremony in Vancouver!

Baxter Bridge is a timber Howe Truss bridge built in the 1950’s, and crosses the Shuswap River in the North Okanagan. Over the years, the bridge has undergone a patchwork of repairs, resulting in intermittent closures, and the bridge is meant to be replaced when funding becomes available. In May 2021, Associated carried out an enhanced bridge inspection, resulting in a 50% downrating to 25 tonnes GVW. These restrictions caused significant hardship on the local community, blocking emergency response vehicles (crucially, during the wildfire season) and imposing long detours.

Associated Engineering was tasked to design and oversee the construction of the emergency repair works to reinstate this lifeline, and we responded immediately, designing rehabilitation works within a record time of six weeks. Our innovative design to strengthen the existing portal frame with a steel U-frame eliminated the need for portal bracing. Major construction works were completed in 16 weeks, allowing the bridge to return to operation at full capacity, and miscellaneous minor works continued without need for traffic management. 

Congratulations also to the project team on the Highway 91/17 Upgrade Project, which received an Award of Merit in the Transportation & Bridges category. We led the design of two out of the four interchanges on the project and provided environmental services project-wide to the McElhanney team on this project. Our team members on the project included Pat Stancombe, Josh Thiessen, Dave Hayward, Jennifer Prive, Rob Kupchanko, Matt Du Toit, Lisa Liu, and Evelyn Aguila.