Metro Testing + Engineering Ltd is pleased to announce the new appointment by the Canadian Council of Independent Laboratories / Conseil canadien des laboratoires independants (CCIL) of Cengiz Guldemet to their Board of Directors, holding the position as Director of the Geotechnical/Construction Materials Division.

The CCIL is a federally incorporated, non-profit organization that represents the independent, private-sector testing laboratories in Canada. They administer laboratory and technician certification programs for the testing of various construction materials (asphalt, aggregates, and concrete) and support a national and international accreditation system for environmental/life sciences laboratories.

With over 29 years of experience in the materials consulting, construction testing and concrete ready-mix industry, Cengiz has developed skills as both a senior technician and as a materials engineer. While also serving as a Board member, he is currently serving on CCIL’s regional committee in British Columbia and urges others in the industry to get involved.  “Being a member of CCIL allows you stay on top of the important issues,” says Cengiz. “One thing I would like to focus on as a new Board member is enhancing training for field technicians.”

We congratulate Cengiz for this achievement and his commitment to the industry.

It was a wonderful spring day to bring in lunch for everyone to celebrate our milestone service awards at Metro Testing & Engineering in Burnaby. Congratulations to all our 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30-year service award recipients (16 employees this time around) across all our 10 branches!

We are pleased to celebrate Mahyad Aghigh’s achievement of earning his Ph.D. degree in Physical Chemistry from University of British Columbia.  For several years, Mahyad spent his evenings and weekends working towards his degree while continuing to work full-time in our technical services team performing floor flatness testing and more recently, being involved in the launch of our new air tightness testing services.  He will be officially graduating on 02 June 2021 (you can tell from he big smile on his face!).  Congratulations, Mahyad!

METRO TESTING + ENGINEERING ROLE:

• Materials Testing – Soils and Concrete
• Shotcrete to create the tunnel

The Construction of the new Second Narrows Water Supply Tunnel is now underway; it is one of five new tunnel crossings being built in the region. The new tunnel will house three new steel water mains that will connect the North Shore watersheds to the cities of Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, and other parts of the region.

The tunnel will be built to current seismic standards required to withstand a major earthquake, ensuring that Vancouver and the Tri-Cities continue to have reliable delivery of clean drinking water source should a catastrophic event occur.  The new tunnel will replace two older mains that were installed in 1948 and 1978, both of which are at risk of collapse even in a moderate earthquake.

Construction activities for this project include shaft excavation and shoring, valve chamber and pipe installation, welding, backfilling and restoration.

The project will span east of the iron workers memorial Bridge between the District of North Vancouver and the City of Burnaby and the scope of work includes construction of two shafts, one on each side of Burrard Inlet. 

The new water supply tunnel will be excavated deep underground using a boring machine that will launch from a 68 meter deep vertical entry shaft drilled down from the North Vancouver side and progress south under Burrard Inlet using a tunnel boring machine to punch through 1.1 kilometers of sedimentary rock and soil.  Crews will then have to grind away at 110 plus meters of rock straight upward from the bottom of the tunnel to the vertical exit shaft on the Burnaby side.  

Once the tunnel has been excavated, the three steel water mains will be installed inside the tunnel and connected to the new valve chambers at each shaft site and from there into the region’s drinking water system.

Pipe deliveries are anticipated to start in 2020 and the project is expected to reach completion by the end of 2023.

Metro’s role in the construction of the water supply tunnel includes material testing of soils, concrete, and shotcrete being used to create the tunnel; a vital part of the project that determines how the materials being used will withstand.

METRO TESTING + ENGINEERING ROLE:

Partnering with Lafarge Canada Inc., Metro Testing + Engineering’s Role on the interchange Projects includes:

• Concrete, grout, shotcrete – field and lab testing
• Soils/ granular – field and lab testing
• Asphalt – field and lab testing

Mountain Highway Interchange

The Mountain Highway Overpass was designed and built over 50 years ago.   Upgrades are necessary to improve traffic flow during peak time, reduce highway inefficiencies at key points, improve access to, and facilitate the flow of traffic on Highway 1 and support better connections between municipalities.  Replacement and reconstruction of the interchanges are also necessary to accommodate future Highway 1 improvements.

These upgrades are all part of a larger plan to improve BC Roads and Highways and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and the Government of Canada are partnering in the design and construction of a new interchange at Highway 1 and Mountain Highway.

The Interchange design will be constructed to meet current engineering standards, improving safety for all users. The original interchange configurations were close in proximity to each other and had short merge distances, narrow shoulders and lane drop-offs. 

The new interchange will consist of the following key components:

• Construction of on/off ramps in all four quadrants
• Signalization at both ends of the new structure to provide the safe movement of traffic on and off Mountain Highway
• Replacement of the existing two-lane Mountain Highway underpass with a new four-lane structure
• Full intersection at Keith Road/Brooksbank Avenue/Mountain Highway
• New realigned Mountain Highway

The design will also include overall improvements and expansion of facilities for alternate modes of transport; improved bike and pedestrian facilities, a protected intersection at mountain Highway/Brooksbank Avenue/Keith Road, the addition of approximately 645 meters of multi-use pathways, 850 meters of roadway bike paths and 260 meters of sidewalk that will integrate with existing facilities.   Transit reliability will also improve as a result of the overall reduction in congestion that this project will bring.

Benefits to the Environment

Through environmental and drainage enhancements, fish and wildlife habitats will also be better protected thanks to the rehabilitation of Keith Creek and riparian planting of native species.

Project Milestones:

• New underpass open spring 2019
• New eastbound off-ramp open spring 2019
• New westbound on-ramp open spring 2019
• Mountain Highway project completion summer 2019

Next Phase:

The Keith Road/Seymour Parkway Interchange Project is currently getting underway. 

The Keith Road/Seymour Parkway interchange provides access to highway 1 and is an important east/west connection for North Shore residents. The new interchange will improve safety and reduce traffic interruptions with ramp re-configurations and improved traffic flow along Keith Road to Mount Seymour Parkway. 

‘The rebranding of CCMET to Metro Testing + Engineering is to achieve greater clarity on the services we offer as a group. We want our company name to reflect the Metro Way; “Partnering with our clients to provide industry-leading testing, engineering, and consulting solutions in the construction industry in order for them to successfully execute their projects”.

By consolidating under one group name it allows us to apply our experience to compete in multiple sectors emphasizing our unique experience while allowing us to continue to provide the well-known individual care for our client’s specific needs.’

METRO TESTING + ENGINEERING ROLE:

• Materials Testing
• Materials Engineering
• Quality Management

The Ridley Export Terminal Project is located on a section of land on Ridley Island near Prince Rupert, British Columbia.  The land has been leased from the Prince Rupert Port Authority by Ridley Terminals Inc. The brownfield site has a history of industrial development and benefits from both an excellent railway access and a world class marine jetty with deep water access to the Pacific Ocean.

Long-term agreements securing land tenure, along with rail and marine infrastructure on Ridley Island were executed by AltaGas and the terminal has been designed to ship up to 1.2 million tonnes of propane per year. Propane from British Columbia and Alberta natural gas producers will be transported to the Facility using the existing CN rail network. It is estimated that the proposed Facility will offload approximately 50 to 60 rail cars per day and deliver approximately 20 to 30 cargos of propane per year to market by marine transport.

Soils testing and construction monitoring were needed to pour the foundation for the propane tank and the crane pads for two tower cranes that will be used in the civil construction and dome placement.  The propane storage tank alone took approximately 12,000 m3 or 12,000,000 litres of concrete to build – it has an overall height of 45 meters from the base to the top of the dome. That is enough concrete to fill five Olympic size swimming pools.

Northern Geo, Metro Testing + Engineering construction contribution to this project also included full time quality control (QC) for the following:

• Excavation
• Backfill
• Compaction
• Concrete
• Grouting Operations
• Daily progress reports were also provided

The Ridley Island Propane Export Terminal Project is estimated to cost between $450 million and $500 million and the anticipated completion and first cargo shipment date is 2019.

METRO TESTING + ENGINEERING ROLE:

• Pile Driving Assessment Services
• Pile Driving Analysis & Dynamic Testing

Rio Tinto Terminal A extension project is located at the south end of the existing Rio Tinto plant facility near Kitimat, British Columbia.  The Terminal was designed and built to accommodate LNG Canada exports as well as the import and export of raw materials and finished products for Rio Tinto’s ongoing operations. The expanded 320 x 60 metre wharf includes a berth for barges and both elements were built on more than 400 steel piles with a concrete deck of approximately 20,000 m3.

Metro Testing + Engineering provided Pile Driving Assessment services on this project.  The scope of work for this PDA testing program included the following:

• Initial order test pile program was conducted on 2 test piles (TP1-A and TP2-B) and 2 re-action pile (RP4-A and RP4-B)
• Design of the proposed instrumentation for LNG’s Agent review (Worley Parsons)
• Carry out dynamic testing on 2 test piles and 2 re-action piles using Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) with full signal matching:

• • End of drive for two (2) test piles and two (2) reaction piles
  • Two days after initial drive of to (2) test piles
  • After static load test of two (2) test piles
  • Acquire and provide the dynamic pile test data;
  • CAPWAP analysis and reporting; and,
  • Final summary report submission after PDA testing was completed.

METRO TESTING + ENGINEERING ROLE:

• Materials Testing
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Specialty Testing