Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/354800
six months of round-the-clock dewatering for foundations, Turner says. More than 15,000 square metres of specialty terrazzo- topped flooring was manufactured overseas and hollowcore floor slabs were fabricated in Edmonton and transported by highway to the site. "Building of the new Fort McMurray Airport came with the normal out-of-town concerns including lack of accommodation and readily available speciality materials," says Bob Walker, senior VP, Alberta, Ledcor Construction. "However the real issue came with the recruitment of qualified manpower. This province's construction sector is booming and qualified trades professionals have many choices. With the numerous construction opportunities, they are not forced to find work outside of their homebase." To keep pace with rapidly advancing computer and IT technology, the team made significant changes to IT infrastructure during the last year of the project, Turner says. It was necessary to provide a state-of-the-art traffic control centre for airline operations that would meet the demands at opening and be capable of upgrade for the next generation anticipated by 2017. Construction of the building and civil infrastructure was carefully co-ordinated so that roads, parking, sanitary and storm services were ready in time. "We did this by creating a 3M boundary around the building LOCATION Airport Road, Fort McMurray, Alberta OWNER/DEVELOPER Fort McMurray Airport Authority PROJECT MANAGER Stantec Consulting Ltd. ARCHITECT Office of Mcfarlane Biggar Architects + Designers GENERAL CONTRACTOR Ledcor Construction Limited STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Equilibrium Consulting Inc. MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Cobalt Engineering (Integral Group) LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT PWL Partnership GROSS FLOOR AREA 15,000 square metres TOTAL COST $258 million to which the building contractor was restricted," Turner explains. "The civil contractor then held control over the surrounding territory. Manipulating laydown areas to grant access to the building created scheduling and marshalling intricacies that both organizations had to endure." The terminal was officially opened on June 9, 2014, with its first flight, meeting a target set at the beginning of construction. "It was a great team effort to achieve this milestone," Turner says. "On this project, a sense of pride of workmanship has permeated the relationships between the parties. That pride seems best expressed by the mutual respect and integrated functioning team partnership that emerged. We did it together – and we did it well." n AUGUST 2014 /65 Fort McMurray International Airport Expansion Nicola Logworks.indd 1 14-05-07 10:59