Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1295215
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0 | 47 Reinforcing Steel P H OTO G R A P H Y CO U RT E SY L M S R EI N FO RC I N G S T EEL G RO U P The reinforcing steel sector is seeing new opportunities to forge ahead by ROBIN BRUNET PIVOT UNDER PRESSURE L ike so many of his colleagues in the reinforcing steel trade, Duane Kotun, director of administration of Alberta-based Sherwood Steel, regards 2020 as a perplexing but welcome time of work. He explains, "Logically we shouldn't be busy due to COVID-19 or the oil sector in the prairies being so depressed, but nonetheless we've got a lot on our plate and suffered zero financial impact." He adds that the circumstances are especially favourable compared to last year, when his firm was trying to keep busy with smaller jobs in a relatively weak market. As of August, Sherwood Steel was supplying steel for the University of Alberta's Dentistry & Pharmacy Building redevelopment, a project consisting of the reno- vation of all seven floors of the 1921 structure and envelope rehabilitation. Kotun says, "We started the renovation in April just as the lockdowns were enacted, and today we're using anywhere from two to 12 installers on site in accor- dance with proper virus safety measures. Adhering to these standards has proven to be fairly easy, as they fit perfectly into our well-established culture of safety." Sherwood Steel is also performing fabrication duties for LNG Canada's marine facility, and Kotun says of reinforcing steel's labour pool in general, "A lot of ironworkers in Alberta moved to B.C. because of the economic slump, but now we're busy and it's tough meeting the demand! There's even talk of seven or eight new towers being built in Edmonton, which is remarkable considering the state of our economy just a year ago." Kotun doesn't see work drying up anytime soon: "The future seems assured, and we've taken advantage of the prosperity by having made improvements to our processes via software updates and other initiatives." In B.C., LMS Reinforcing Steel Group has been equally busy during COVID and has successfully lined up some of the biggest projects in this province. Ron McNeil, CEO and co-founder of LMS states, "During this pandemic the construc- tion industry has continued to move forward with remarkable projects. We have an impressive portfolio of active work. The City of Lougheed is well underway and we are beginning to mobilize on the massive Oakridge Centre redevelop- ment project." As a result, LMS continues to recruit new talent and retain experienced iron- workers, a process that is facilitated by the company's reputation as a training leader. "We work hard to ensure our ironworkers have ongoing training and a long-term career path," says McNeil. "Our RRSP program is an important part of competitive compensation and benefits package." LMS's devotion to investing in rebar installers for the long term manifests itself in the LMS Academy, an in-house school created to support the continued development of its members from apprenticeship training to leadership and specialized courses. Fully sponsored classes consist of theory and practical les- sons and online training modules. As for dealing with COVID-19, McNeil notes that LMS in the early days of the pandemic collaborated with other notable industry representatives including general contractors, developers, various construction associations, and trades to outline best practices at job sites. "Their work kept sites fully operational and safe," he says. "Masks, social distancing, hygiene, and work sequencing all played key roles and will continue to moving forward." One of the many projects that Harris Rebar has been involved with of late is also at first glance one of the most unlikely: it is the Wood Innovation and Design Centre (WIDC) in Prince George. This eight-storey building stands 29.5 metres – the world's tallest modern all-timber structure and a benchmark to be broken by other mass timber buildings in the works. With the exception of a mechanical penthouse and ground floor slab, there was no concrete used in the building. The design incorporated a simple struc- ture of systems-integrated CLT floor panels, Glulam columns and beams, and mass timber walls. The building envelope was a combination of glazing installed in vertically laminated veneer lumber (LVL) mullions and structural insulated panels (SIPs). After completion of the reinforced concrete slab foundation, the building's lateral-load resistance was primarily provided by the elevator and stair core walls, which consisted of CLT panels. The shear walls were anchored to the foundations using shear brackets and hold-down anchors. Two types of connec- tions were used to secure the slab-level columns to the concrete slab: most used an embedded plate cast into the concrete slab and a matching column base with a thick vertical fin plate that was factory installed into the base of the glulam column using self-tapping screws or epoxied HSK connectors. Where anchor bolts were used, the base connection was designed as a pedestal, detailed to permit factory installation to the base of the glulam columns. Polaris Metrotown site, Burnaby, B.C.