Award

62 | DECEMBER 2019 Major Component Replacement Training Facility – Bruce Power Major Component Replacement Training Facility – Bruce Power by ROBIN BRUNET A n official unveiling on April 25 for Bruce Power Inc.'s Major Component Replacement (MCR) Training Facility signified an impor- tant step towards what has been called the largest infrastructure project in Canada: a $13-billion MCR, or upgrade, of Bruce Power's nuclear reactor inven- tory that will provide one in three Ontario homes and businesses with electricity for decades. The facility, which was designed by Stantec in conjunction with Bruce Power, will provide hands- on, in-depth training to the people executing the highly technical pro- grams necessary for the upgrades. Located in Kincardine, Ontario, the 129,000-square-foot building features a two-storey office area; classrooms and amenities for the occupants; a one-storey, high-bay shop area to host training; room for 330 office workers and space for an additional 150 in the shop; and parking, amenities, and facil- ities for about 500 employees. In the heart of the building are six mock-ups that replicate the environ- ment inside Bruce Power's reactor vaults. Resembling to the untrained eye massive, multi-level structures with networks of cross beams and gantries, the mock-ups will allow tradespeople to practice on components they'll be faced with in the actual vaults; people operating the remote control tooling for the feeder and detube/retube work will also train in this facility. Lindsay Grummett, communica- tions specialist for Bruce Power, says planning for the training facility, along with the MCR program, began about four years ago, and early on her com- pany and Stantec "decided it would be much more efficient to locate the facil- ity off-site rather than at the Bruce Power site, which is protected by heavy security that would have made daily access for so many people difficult. "We also decided early on to repli- cate only portions of the reactor face rather than the entire face, as these portions would be the areas that require work, and their arrangement in the shop would maximize the number of people able to undertake training at any given time." Although programming dictated a good deal of the layout of the train- ing facility, locating the building on the outskirts of Kincardine (population 11,300) required that its appearance be esthetically pleasing. "The location is in the midst of farmland with town- homes just across the road, so with extensive input from Kincardine stake- holders Stantec ultimately created a beautiful exterior," says Grummett. The facility is a simple rectangu- lar form with a rectangular entrance awning; curtain wall glazing defines the office portion of the structure, and double-height precast concrete fac- ing was used for the shop portion. The office interior would be augmented with breakout spaces and peaceful, seated areas where staff can relax. Dion Hertlein, construction man- ager for Bird Construction Company, says the decision to build the facility in a field was beneficial in numerous ways when the design build project commenced construction in October of 2017. "Ground conditions were pretty good, no issues, and the only challenge we faced during site prep was remov- ing twice as much top soil as originally intended," he explains, adding that Kincardine ultimately used the soil as topping for its landfill. Hertlein goes on to note that, "as is typical with design build, design of the facility was ongoing as construction progressed. We followed a tight sched- ule and were obliged to work on the foundation and structural steel compo- nents, while avoiding the more severe weather conditions, as Kincardine rou- tinely experiences high wind snow squalls with zero visibility. We also had just a single season to complete the exterior work, including paving." Hertlein says, "Bruce Power was most helpful in that it facilitated permitting, a process that would have otherwise impacted the pace of construction. One interesting facet of construction was that we uncovered an archeological homestead during excavation, and Bruce worked with the provincial government to remove artifacts from the site in a timely fash- ion without significantly affecting the schedule." Bird Construction and its part- ners the Concert Infrastructure Fund, Concert Realty Services, and Stonebridge Financial, will continue to provide management oversight to the completed facility. Grummett concludes, "We couldn't be happier with how successfully our new MCR Training Facility came together: it's an incredibly important facet of the Major Component Replacement Project. We operate with a Safety First men- tality and this facility is where more than 4,000 tradespeople will rehearse and practice the work they'll be per- forming on site to ensure our project is completely efficiently and without inci- dent. The facility will also be beneficial to Kincardine in terms of the increased manpower creating economic opportu- nities for the community." A LOCATION Sutton Street, Kincardine, Ontario OWNER/DEVELOPER Bruce Power Inc. ARCHITECT Stantec GENERAL CONTRACTOR Bird Construction Company TOTAL SIZE 129,000 square feet TOTAL COST $55 million PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY BRUCE POWER INC.

• Cover