On Jan. 1, 2019, Soletanche Bachy Canada Inc. (SB Canada), an amalgamation of two long-standing foundation engineering and construction companies, became one of Canada's largest geotechnical contractors and the North American leader in Soletanche Bachy's worldwide network of subsidiaries and partners.
Together, Bermingham Foundation Solutions and AGRA Foundations Ltd. hold more than 180 years of experience in geotechnical construction and engineered solutions across North America, including operating as part of the Soletanche Freyssinet Group of Companies for almost a decade.
Established in 1936 in Saskatoon, Sask., originally under the name Western Boring & Foundations, AGRA Foundations built its strong reputation specializing in foundation engineering and construction of deep pile and caisson foundations across Western Canada.
Bermingham Foundation Solutions was established in 1897 the oldest foundation contractor in Canada, providing contracting services and equipment manufacturing solutions for more than a century.
By joining forces, these two companies will bring a huge base of knowledge and expertise to the successful completion of projects not only in North America but throughout the world.
"The planning for the amalgamation started in the first half of 2018 at the senior level within North America," said Robert Marzetti, at the time the president and CEO of Bermingham Foundation Solutions and now CEO of SB Canada. "Consensus in those early discussions was to join forces into a single company and operate across Canada. We talked about how to put the knowledge, expertise and talent of the two companies together and build synergies between them."
On the first day of Q1 2019, Soletanche Bachy Canada came into existence. National functions such as safety, finance, business development and corporate services report directly to Marzetti, while all operational entities across the country report through the president, Jonathan Hazenberg, formerly president of AGRA Foundations.
The new company will continue to operate out of five Canadian locations: Hamilton, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. From an operational standpoint, the company is organized along two major geographic divisions:
East:
VP Operations Todd Barlow
VP Project Delivery Andrew Weltz
West:
VP Operations Brian Horner
VP Project Delivery Mike Lamborn
The equipment side of Bermingham Foundation Solutions, Berminghammer, led by Steven England, will continue to operate as a wholly owned division of SB Canada, manufacturing lead systems, hammers, reverse circulation drills and custom engineered solutions for the pile driving industry out of its 50,000 sq. ft. facility in Hamilton, Ont.
"Bringing together so many years of combined experience in the Canadian market has given us fantastic insight into the soil structures and deep foundation knowledge from coast to coast," said Marzetti. "Right now, we're talking about how we can utilize the expertise from one region to strengthen our offering to clients in a different region. An example of that is how can we leverage the capabilities out of Ontario where our marine experience resides [in order] to win and execute marine projects in the west?"
Similarly, the new company is determining how to combine expertise from the prairies to improve its offering in Ontario, and, as it continues to grow that knowledge, will eventually look to expanding onto the East Coast. Being part of Soletanche Bachy gives access to expertise and equipment from around the world, which further enhances its Canadian capabilities.
"It's one of those situations where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts," said Marzetti.
Two distinguished, long-standing deep foundations companies bringing together all their knowledge and experience into one entity, ready and able to provide a stronger offering to all its clients from coast to coast.
A Recent SB Canada project: Changing the face of Toronto's waterfront
Southeast of the downtown core of Toronto lies what is considered to be one of the largest underdeveloped stretches of downtown waterfront in North America more than 350 hectares of land, much of it stretching along the edge of Lake Ontario. Originally a wetlands at the mouth of the Don River, most of the area has been infilled over the past century, blocking and diverting the flow of the river and increasing the risk of flooding in surrounding neighborhoods.
The Port Lands Flood Protection Project (PLFP) one of the largest in the City of Toronto's history is going to change all that and more. An enormous undertaking, the project is designed to provide flood protection to Toronto's eastern waterfront and surrounding communities, unlocking almost 300 hectares of land for revitalization.
The project is being led by Waterfront Toronto, the City of Toronto, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and CreateTO, and with the support and involvement of Ports Toronto. In June 2017, $1.25 billion in shared funding was announced by the governments of Canada, Ontario and Toronto to deliver the full Port Lands Flood Protection project, and in December 2017, construction began on the Cherry Street Lake filling part of the project. This early start was thanks to $65 million in tri-government funding through the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund.
Construction began on the full Port Lands Flood Protection project in July 2018 and will be completed in 2024, involving activities such as the construction of a new one-kilometer-long river channel. Soil contamination remediation and earth-filling operations to raise the grade of the surrounding lands will ultimately contribute to the creation of 40 hectares of greenspace and parklands.
Three new bridges, as well as an extension to the existing Lake Shore Boulevard Bridge will be built, including infrastructure needed to allow for the future development of waterfront neighborhoods and commercial areas.
Part One: Creating new land
The initial component of the project involves reshaping the northwest corner of the Port Lands area around Essroc Quay near the new Cherry Street Bridge. In September 2016, a funding installment of $65 million was made by the three governments for the Cherry Street Stormwater and Lakefilling (CSLF) project. Designed to stabilize the shoreline and to create a new landmass, the project includes constructing a dockwall containment structure and then bringing in a huge amount of locally sourced fill to create an approximately 5,000 square meters of land. This newly created landmass will eventually form part of the future Promontory Park and will also facilitate the re-alignment of Cherry Street and the construction of a new bridge over the Keating Channel.
Beginning in May 2018, under the construction management of Ellis Don Civil Ltd., the SB Canada team (at that time still known as Bermingham), took on the challenge of delivering a marine wall that would form the north and west sides of the landmass containment structure.
"We built a long section of combi wall that ran about 150 metres east-west along the Keating Channel," said Mike Van Impe, project manager with SB Canada. "Then the combi wall turned southerly and continued for another 45 meters until it tied into an existing quay."
Van Impe explains that the combi wall was made up of rock socketed hollow pipes laced with sheet piles and tie back rock anchors. Several suppliers delivered these materials: Pipe & Piling Supplies Ltd., a major producer and supplier of steel pipe across North America, and Samuel Roll Form Group, manufacturing steel roll form products for more than 45 years, both provided a steady, reliable source of material.
Bermingham's internal engineering department designed and manufactured a custom steel template that would ensure proper location of the wall. The custom template solution utilized the existing dock wall to keep everything aligned.
"We did have a bit of a challenge with an undocumented lake bed depression," said Van Impe. "Suddenly, there was a pocket that fell over two metres, but we solved the problem quickly by splicing additional material to the pipes and sheets. The splicing work was completed both in the field and within our manufacturing plant, and the option to complete the work in two locations greatly reduced the delay and associated costs. It was a 'field fit' solution that worked."
By the end of November, the wall was completed, although working on the edge of a large metropolis, the timeframe might have been much longer. SB Canada deployed two shifts for much of the project, which helped Ellis Don and Waterfront Toronto maintain their demanding schedule. Despite some changes and issues along the way, the hard work and responsive nature of SB Canada allowed the project to be completed on schedule.
It is this kind of expertise in providing custom solutions combined with the ability to handle unexpected challenges that provides the strong foundation beneath the success of the new SB Canada for today and into the future.Soletanche Bachy Canada Inc. : From Sea to Sea beneath the Canadian Landscape
April 8, 2019
On Jan. 1, 2019, Soletanche Bachy Canada Inc. (SB Canada), an amalgamation of two long-standing foundation engineering and construction companies, became one of Canada's largest geotechnical contractors and the North American leader in Soletanche Bachy's worldwide network of subsidiaries and partners.
Together, Bermingham Foundation Solutions and AGRA Foundations Ltd. hold more than 180 years of experience in geotechnical construction and engineered solutions across North America, including operating as part of the Soletanche Freyssinet Group of Companies for almost a decade.
Established in 1936 in Saskatoon, Sask., originally under the name Western Boring & Foundations, AGRA Foundations built its strong reputation specializing in foundation engineering and construction of deep pile and caisson foundations across Western Canada.
Bermingham Foundation Solutions was established in 1897 the oldest foundation contractor in Canada, providing contracting services and equipment manufacturing solutions for more than a century.
By joining forces, these two companies will bring a huge base of knowledge and expertise to the successful completion of projects not only in North America but throughout the world.
"The planning for the amalgamation started in the first half of 2018 at the senior level within North America," said Robert Marzetti, at the time the president and CEO of Bermingham Foundation Solutions and now CEO of SB Canada. "Consensus in those early discussions was to join forces into a single company and operate across Canada. We talked about how to put the knowledge, expertise and talent of the two companies together and build synergies between them."
On the first day of Q1 2019, Soletanche Bachy Canada came into existence. National functions such as safety, finance, business development and corporate services report directly to Marzetti, while all operational entities across the country report through the president, Jonathan Hazenberg, formerly president of AGRA Foundations.
The new company will continue to operate out of five Canadian locations: Hamilton, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. From an operational standpoint, the company is organized along two major geographic divisions:
East:
VP Operations Todd Barlow
VP Project Delivery Andrew Weltz
West:
VP Operations Brian Horner
VP Project Delivery Mike Lamborn
The equipment side of Bermingham Foundation Solutions, Berminghammer, led by Steven England, will continue to operate as a wholly owned division of SB Canada, manufacturing lead systems, hammers, reverse circulation drills and custom engineered solutions for the pile driving industry out of its 50,000 sq. ft. facility in Hamilton, Ont.
"Bringing together so many years of combined experience in the Canadian market has given us fantastic insight into the soil structures and deep foundation knowledge from coast to coast," said Marzetti. "Right now, we're talking about how we can utilize the expertise from one region to strengthen our offering to clients in a different region. An example of that is how can we leverage the capabilities out of Ontario where our marine experience resides [in order] to win and execute marine projects in the west?"
Similarly, the new company is determining how to combine expertise from the prairies to improve its offering in Ontario, and, as it continues to grow that knowledge, will eventually look to expanding onto the East Coast. Being part of Soletanche Bachy gives access to expertise and equipment from around the world, which further enhances its Canadian capabilities.
"It's one of those situations where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts," said Marzetti.
Two distinguished, long-standing deep foundations companies bringing together all their knowledge and experience into one entity, ready and able to provide a stronger offering to all its clients from coast to coast.
A Recent SB Canada project: Changing the face of Toronto's waterfront
Southeast of the downtown core of Toronto lies what is considered to be one of the largest underdeveloped stretches of downtown waterfront in North America more than 350 hectares of land, much of it stretching along the edge of Lake Ontario. Originally a wetlands at the mouth of the Don River, most of the area has been infilled over the past century, blocking and diverting the flow of the river and increasing the risk of flooding in surrounding neighborhoods.
The Port Lands Flood Protection Project (PLFP) one of the largest in the City of Toronto's history is going to change all that and more. An enormous undertaking, the project is designed to provide flood protection to Toronto's eastern waterfront and surrounding communities, unlocking almost 300 hectares of land for revitalization.
The project is being led by Waterfront Toronto, the City of Toronto, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and CreateTO, and with the support and involvement of Ports Toronto. In June 2017, $1.25 billion in shared funding was announced by the governments of Canada, Ontario and Toronto to deliver the full Port Lands Flood Protection project, and in December 2017, construction began on the Cherry Street Lake filling part of the project. This early start was thanks to $65 million in tri-government funding through the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund.
Construction began on the full Port Lands Flood Protection project in July 2018 and will be completed in 2024, involving activities such as the construction of a new one-kilometer-long river channel. Soil contamination remediation and earth-filling operations to raise the grade of the surrounding lands will ultimately contribute to the creation of 40 hectares of greenspace and parklands.
Three new bridges, as well as an extension to the existing Lake Shore Boulevard Bridge will be built, including infrastructure needed to allow for the future development of waterfront neighborhoods and commercial areas.
Part One: Creating new land
The initial component of the project involves reshaping the northwest corner of the Port Lands area around Essroc Quay near the new Cherry Street Bridge. In September 2016, a funding installment of $65 million was made by the three governments for the Cherry Street Stormwater and Lakefilling (CSLF) project. Designed to stabilize the shoreline and to create a new landmass, the project includes constructing a dockwall containment structure and then bringing in a huge amount of locally sourced fill to create an approximately 5,000 square meters of land. This newly created landmass will eventually form part of the future Promontory Park and will also facilitate the re-alignment of Cherry Street and the construction of a new bridge over the Keating Channel.
Beginning in May 2018, under the construction management of Ellis Don Civil Ltd., the SB Canada team (at that time still known as Bermingham), took on the challenge of delivering a marine wall that would form the north and west sides of the landmass containment structure.
"We built a long section of combi wall that ran about 150 metres east-west along the Keating Channel," said Mike Van Impe, project manager with SB Canada. "Then the combi wall turned southerly and continued for another 45 meters until it tied into an existing quay."
Van Impe explains that the combi wall was made up of rock socketed hollow pipes laced with sheet piles and tie back rock anchors. Several suppliers delivered these materials: Pipe & Piling Supplies Ltd., a major producer and supplier of steel pipe across North America, and Samuel Roll Form Group, manufacturing steel roll form products for more than 45 years, both provided a steady, reliable source of material.
Bermingham's internal engineering department designed and manufactured a custom steel template that would ensure proper location of the wall. The custom template solution utilized the existing dock wall to keep everything aligned.
"We did have a bit of a challenge with an undocumented lake bed depression," said Van Impe. "Suddenly, there was a pocket that fell over two metres, but we solved the problem quickly by splicing additional material to the pipes and sheets. The splicing work was completed both in the field and within our manufacturing plant, and the option to complete the work in two locations greatly reduced the delay and associated costs. It was a 'field fit' solution that worked."
By the end of November, the wall was completed, although working on the edge of a large metropolis, the timeframe might have been much longer. SB Canada deployed two shifts for much of the project, which helped Ellis Don and Waterfront Toronto maintain their demanding schedule. Despite some changes and issues along the way, the hard work and responsive nature of SB Canada allowed the project to be completed on schedule.
It is this kind of expertise in providing custom solutions combined with the ability to handle unexpected challenges that provides the strong foundation beneath the success of the new SB Canada for today and into the future.
