Design of Sea to Sky Highway Test Section wins National Award of Excellence

At the Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards of Excellence in November, Associated Engineering’s design of the Sea to Sky Highway Test Section received an Award of Excellence. The design of the test section is part of the B.C. Ministry of Transportation’s upgrade of the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler for the 2010 Olympics. The existing highway is characterized by sharp curves, steep climbs, and dramatic drop-offs to the ocean below.

Left to right: Norm D’Andrea, Don Kennedy, Mark Goldbach, Brian Mylleville, and Paul Schlotfeldt

The Ministry wished to upgrade the highway to improve safety, reliability, and capacity for travelers. The Ministry selected Associated Engineering with Golder Associates to complete detailed design of an 800 metre long test section north of Horseshoe Bay. The objectives of the test section were to demonstrate that the challenging construction of the entire highway could be done on time, economically, and without major traffic closures.

Specific challenges along the test section included near vertical rock cuts, marginally stable rockfill slopes, and the nearby CN Rail corridor. The design team addressed the constraints by developing unique downslope structures (half bridges) and innovative retaining wall systems. The project was delivered on schedule, 30 percent under budget, and requiring only short (20 minute), single-lane road closures.

Congratulations to the project team, including Don Kennedy, P.Eng., Norm D'Andrea, P.Eng., David Harvey, P.Eng., Sean Bidulka, P.Eng., and David Tyler, P.Eng. (now with District of Mission).

Kelowna office welcomes Alan Emery back to the Okanagan

Our Kelowna office is pleased to welcome Senior Transportation Engineer, Alan Emery, P.Eng. back to the Okanagan. For the past two years, Alan led our highways team in Saskatchewan. With Jason Horner taking over as Manager of Transportation Engineering in Saskatchewan earlier this year, Alan and his family returned to the Okanagan.

Alan is a civil engineer with 24 years of experience encompassing highway and roadworks design and traffic planning in the UK and Canada. Since joining Associated Engineering in 1995, Alan has played a key role as project manager and senior highways engineer on highways, roadworks, and bridge projects in B.C., Alberta, and Saskatchewan.