Award

DECEMBER 2019 | 11 Concrete are treated with a chemical; the photos are trans- ferred to the formliners/foils, and after the concrete is poured, the water from the concrete makes the chemical react – so when we remove the hardened concrete and clean it off, the image is imbedded in the panel." Surespan is busy with many other projects. "As of October we're casting a new precast parkade in Nanaimo and bleachers and beams for the SFU Burnaby stadium," says Stanojevic. "We're also casting and erecting the new law courts in Abbotsford [a facility that will contain three Supreme Court courtrooms, eight Provincial Court court- rooms, and three judicial conference rooms], and we're gearing up for a lot of smaller school projects." Creativity has been the byword of several proj- ects involving Lafarge Canada, in a year that business development manager for precast Jason Rabasse describes as "a big improvement over 2018. The market is continuing to grow, and we've been involved in several unique Ductal concrete projects." Rabasse is referring to Lafarge Precast Edmonton's work on the city's Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium dome. The once-dormant flying-saucer-shaped build- ing was the first of its kind in Canada. Built in 1960, the planetarium remained open until 1983. Since then, it has been refurbished to provide program- ming and facility rental services with Telus World of Science. Before the interior work could begin, the iconic rooftop dome required upgrades – eight new concrete dome sections, each weighing about 5,500 pounds, being lowered onto the rooftop with a crane over the original dome structure. The casting was made possible by a UHPC Ductal form, Lafarge Canada's proprietary ultra-high-per- formance concrete (Lafarge Precast Edmonton facility is the premier supplier of Ductal products). "It only took two days to install the 19-millimetre thick sections, and they will be covered with a gold sealer from NAWKAW," says Rabasse. "The final product will not only replicate the original dome, but contrib- ute to the facility's improved thermal performance." The Edmonton plant also worked with the con- struction team of the Castle Downs Transit Centre to provide Ductal architectural cladding panels. With Alberta Infrastructure, the City of Edmonton and Group2, Lafarge produced and installed the curved underhung soffit panels to add a striking esthetic to this public meeting place. "We also recently sup- plied NU Girders for EllisDon for the West Calgary Ring Road between Highway 8 and the Trans-Canada Highway, which is the final section of the 101 kilome- tre thoroughfare," says Rabasse. Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium, Edmonton, AB. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY LAFARGE CANADA FM35593.indd 1 2017-11-10 2:03 PM Euclid Admixture.indd 1 2016-12-20 12:54

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