Friday, September 1, 2017

Game Changer

A dangerous old stretch of road is being replaced along the Trans Canada highway in Regina. It’s the largest transportation infrastructure project in Saskatchewan history—and Local 151 members are helping to build it

THE CITY OF REGINA HAS a traffic problem. Specifically, a truck traffic problem.

The city straddles the Trans Canada Highway—the main transportation corridor in western Canada. With tens of thousands of trucks passing through each day, the city constructed a partial ring road in 1979 to divert traffic away from residential neighbourhoods.

But the city has grown by leaps and bounds. The ring road has long since been enveloped by new neighbourhoods, turning it from a bypass into a major thoroughfare yet again—with deadly results. Parts of the road, particularly the eastern section, are dotted with roadside memorials—a testament to how dangerous the road is, and one of the reasons why its replacement can’t come soon enough.

A new bypass had been discussed since the 1990s, but it wasn’t until 2013 that the Saskatchewan government finally opened bidding on the project. The partnership of Graham Construction, Parsons Canada Ltd., Carmacks Enterprises, and Vinci Canada won the bid, and by August 2015, shovels were in the ground. And with that, the largest transportation infrastructure project in the province’s history was underway.

CLAC members employed by Technical Workforce Inc. (TWI)—a workforce partner of Graham Construction—are responsible for the road bed and bridges along the 15-kilometre western section of the four-lane highway.

“This project is a game changer,” says Brent Bear, a labourer foreman employed by TWI and a Regina resident. “The bypass is going to be good for families and children because the heavy trucks will be driving around—not through—the city. Where I live, a lot of semi trucks drive through. I wouldn’t feel safe having my daughter playing on her bike. This project will change that.”

Not only is it important to the safety of the citizens, it couldn’t have come at a better time for local construction workers and the local economy. With the fall in commodity prices, particularly oil, both the Saskatchewan and Alberta construction industries have taken a hit, leaving many Saskatchewanians without steady employment.

“We held a job fair here in February, and we ended up with 1,200 resumes,” says Bob Manuel, TWI general manager. “People were lined up outside right out onto the highway. They had people directing traffic because there were so many looking for work. You don’t realize how many people are hurting until you sit down to a job fair.”

SO WHAT’S INVOLVED IN BUILDING the new bypass? A lot of planning, teamwork, safety procedures—and Mary Brown’s chicken.

Alisdair Dickinson is the Regina Bypass Design Builders (RBDB) project director. He’s responsible for the design and construction phase of the project, which will last approximately five years. It’s a massive undertaking to coordinate four main contractors and almost 400 subcontractors, while working with a number of separate communities that are impacted by the bypass, and the government, who is the client.

“Our motto is one project, one team,” says Alisdair. “Each company may have its own identity, but the Regina bypass project operates under the RBDB brand. It doesn’t matter who you work for; we’re all here to do one job. There is no us-versus-them.”

Nowhere is the one big team approach more evident than the mass safety meetings held every month with all the companies. Workers are updated on the big-picture details of the project so that they are reminded they are part of something much larger than their particular part of the project. Managers at all levels go on site several times each week and talk to workers.

To get the job done, Local 151 members employed by TWI work in several crews that for the most part are either working on the roadbed or building the retaining walls that support the bridges and overpasses.

“I started here when this site was just a bare field and we stripped it,” says Morgan Weafer, a heavy equipment operator and steward.

Once the topsoil was stripped off, they needed material to build up the roadbed and the approaches for the overpasses and bridges. Normally, crews cut down hills to level the road and use the excess material to build up low spots and build the overpass approaches. But the land around Regina is flat. Really flat. So the team has dug a pit to haul thousands of truckloads of dirt to the areas where it is needed. The amount of material hauled each day is immense.

“We haul between 150 to 200 loads of material—about 7,500 cubic metres—in a 12-hour shift,” says Darcy Chisholm, a heavy equipment operator and steward whose home is in Calgary. “The haul trucks typically carry between 90 and 100 tonnes of material each time from the borrow pit to the placement area, which takes about 25 minutes per round trip.”

In some areas, the dirt must be moved across a busy two-lane highway.

“We counted over 1,800 vehicles during the day on this road,” says Jeremy Legault, a heavy equipment operator and site foreman who is from St. Brieux, Saskatchewan.

To mitigate the risk, much of the dirt is moved at night, when traffic goes down to a more manageable 800 vehicles in 12 hours. Workers also need to cross an active railway track. Several attended conductor training with CP Rail so that they could understand the train schedule and how to mitigate the risks of working near the tracks.

The site also crosses 113 utility and pipelines, includ-ing the major Enbridge natural gas line. Most of the lines are known and mapped, although there have been a few surprises along the way.

“This is mostly farmland that we’re dealing with, so you have everything from pipelines to old power lines,” says Morgan, who is from Rouleau, Saskatchewan. “Everything is in there, but for the most part it’s been staked out. We struck some lines near an old farmhouse that weren’t previously known. They were dead lines, which was good, but there are surprises everywhere.”

Once the dirt is in place, the operators use excavators, loaders, skid steers, and packers to move and shape it into the required roadbeds and approaches. They also drive water trucks to spray down the dirt, compact it, and control the dust.

WHILE THE ROADBED AND APPROACHES are being laid, crews are also working to build the retaining walls, known as MSE (mechanically stabilized earth) walls, for the bridges and overpasses. Their work is very cyclical.

“These walls are basically giant concrete puzzle pieces that get held into the dirt with galvanized steel straps,” says Reed Ackerman, a lead hand labourer who has been on site for over a year. “When we get here, we have our safety meeting and then we pick up where we left off the day before until it’s done. We’re installing panels, backfilling sand, and putting in straps.

“We just go until the end of the day and come back the next day and do it all again. Keeping your mind on task can be a challenge because the work is so repetitive and your days get pretty long. You just get kind of in the groove and your mind starts to wander, especially when you’re talking with the guys and you talk about your weekends. You’ve got to stay on task and not be complacent—that’s probably the hardest part mentally.”

The last thing you want to be on a job site is complacent, particularly when working near heavy machinery, like the MSE crews do, as they work in close proximity to the operators who are backfilling the walls.

“We definitely touch on the complacency,” says Jason Bear, a labourer from Regina who is also the foreman of an MSE crew. “We make sure that we have everyone on side and their minds are focussed. I remind the guys daily that if they do tend to stray away from their task, or their mind begins to wander, they need to step back and get their mind back in the game so that there’s no possibility of accidents on the work site.”

In addition to the teams constructing the project, support crews help make sure everything keeps running, such as the fuel and lube team. They’re responsible for ensuring equipment across the 15-kilometre job site is fueled, lubed, and ready to go. Without them, the work grinds to a halt.

“It’s hectic,” says Jolisa Hume, an equipment operator who hails from PEI originally but has spent the last few years working in the oilsands. “Sometimes, we run out of fuel, so keeping everything on schedule can be challenging.”

LIKE ALL LARGE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS, this one too has seen its fair share of challenges. The first was backlash from those who do not want the bypass—or at least not in their neighbourhood. Others feel the project is too expensive. Others question the motives of the government.

“From day one when this project was initiated, there’s been controversy,” says Morgan. “But I think it’s a positive moment for the community because it is a Saskatchewan-focussed job. It promotes Saskatchewan work and it greatly benefits the province with all the money that comes in—not just for the employees but where the employees go and spend their money. It’s a trickle down effect, and once this project is done, it will aid the local economy in certain ways.”
Other local workers agree.

“The local spinoffs, the employment opportunities here for a lot of different trades, are important,” says Kevin Large, a heavy equipment operator who is from the Regina area. “And when it’s done, it will speed things up getting around the city.”

To win over citizens who were still not enthused, RBDB held numerous town hall meetings to hear local concerns. In some cases, they rejigged the plans to address those concerns. While they haven’t won everyone over, they believe that the improved road safety and economic spinoffs will eventually win over most of the holdouts.

Currently, 60 percent of the labour force is local, and the project hiring model is to hire local first. One area where they’ve struggled to find enough local workers is in heavy equipment operators.

“There are only so many operators to go around in Saskatchewan,” says Bob. “A lot of people don’t want to leave jobs that they’ve worked all their lives to come to a project to work for 18 months.”

Some of the equipment on the project comes from the oilsands, so few local workers have experience on these big machines. But with the downturn in Alberta’s oilsands, construction workers originally from Saskatchewan, who were working elsewhere, have returned home. Others from across Canada have joined the Regina bypass project.

Another struggle has been the rain. In 2016, Regina experienced higher-than-average levels of rain. The heavy clay of Saskatchewan holds water very well.

“When it’s wet, you don’t want to touch it,” says Alisdair. “If it rains for a week, then you probably have to wait another week for it to dry out.”

“Last year, I think we only got to work 60 percent of the days,” says Reed. “We lost 40 percent productivity to rain, wind, and other weather.”

But not all of the rain days were wasted days.

“On some rain days, we’d go over our safe operating procedures,” says Darcy. “It’s good to be reminded of them.”
For some workers, the rain caused them to seek other employment.

“We had a lot of turnover because of rain,” says Gerry Barry, who performs site labour relations for TWI. “This year has been dry, so people have been staying around.”

High turnover not only decreases productivity, but it also can cause safety concerns. Statistically speaking, new workers are more likely to be injured than those who have been on the job for months.

To mitigate the risks, new recruits receive site-specific safety training and are then placed with seasoned veterans as much as possible.

“We have a good group of guys who have been here for a while,” says Jeremy. “They help integrate the new hires.”

With so many large machines working in close proximity to each other and to workers on the ground, the site has stringent safety rules. To workers from the oilsands, the rules are fairly familiar. To workers who have never worked on a megaproject, there’s a bit of a learning curve.

Kevin has been an operator for several decades and has worked throughout the Yukon and BC, but this is by far the largest site he’s worked on.

“They really push safety here,” he says. “It seemed a little stressful at the start with all the different rules and regulations, but once you learn it, it becomes natural after a while.”
Thanks to training and mentorship from workers on the site, the TWI crew has a strong safety record.

IN SPITE OF SMALL HICCUPS, the project is on schedule and the atmosphere on site is positive.

“Most of the people I work with, we click,” says Darcy. “There’s a relationship there. I spend more time with these people at work than I do with my family and friends back home.”
Jason and Reed agree, even though both live in Regina.

“Hanging out with the crew is the best part of the job,” says Reed. “You almost spend more time with them than you do with your own families, and they almost become your family in a sense.”

“We’re a family and we’re watching out for each other’s backs, making sure we can go home safe to our loved ones,” says Jason. “The camaraderie with the guys is something to look forward to every morning.”
Gerry Barry and Bob Manuel, who are both former CLAC stewards, know the importance of working to build a good workplace community.

“We thank them for what they’re doing,” says Bob. “A lot of these people are away from home, and a little thank you goes a long way.”

Often, that little thank you involves bringing in pizza or Mary Brown’s chicken.

For the local workers, not only do they enjoy a good rapport with their co-workers, but they get to go home to their families every night—something that some of them haven’t had the luxury of doing for years while they worked in Alberta and the territories.

“Best part of this job is going home every night,” says Kevin. “It’s something I’m not used to. I’ve got a family, and it’s nice to be home every night.”

Dangerous Old Stretch of Road

The most dangerous section of the current ring road runs to the east of Regina.

One member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, whose daughter is learning to drive, told the Regina Bypass Design Builders (RBDB) team that had this project not gone ahead, he would have seriously thought about moving so his kids wouldn’t have to drive as new drivers on that section of road.

Over the years, many families have been impacted by accidents along this dangerous old stretch of road, and numerous roadside memorials dot the shoulders as a stark reminder to passing motorists. Prior to construction, the RBDB team contacted family members who had left the memorials to give them a chance to take them down themselves before the large machines moved in.

Regina Bypass Project Fast Facts

The Project

Largest transportation infrastructure project in Saskatchewan’s history
3 different sections
12 overpasses
33 bridges
40 kilometres of new four-lane highway
5 kilometres of twinning Highway 6
20 kilometres of resurfaced four-lane highway
55 kilometres of new service roads
$1.88 billion to construct and maintain over 34 years
8,200 jobs
400 contractors—from construction to cleaning to airlines

Construction Material

17 million cubic metres of dirt to be moved—enough to fill 6,800 Olympic swimming pools
26,000 cubic metres of concrete to be used—enough to fill 2,600 concrete trucks
1,400 kilometres of rebar to be used—enough to stretch from Regina to Calgary and back
13 100-tonne capacity hauling trucks imported from Fort McMurray, Alberta

West Section Construction

5 overpasses
13 bridges
15 kilometres of new four-lane highway
4.5 kilometres of new service roads
113 utilities lines to cross, including major pipelines
Over 240 Local 151 members employed
Start date: February 2016
Completion date: late 2017 or early 2018

Sources: Saskatchewan.ca/residents/transportation/regina-bypass, Regina Leader-Post