Boulder hopping in the hunt for diamonds

Boulder hopping in the hunt for diamonds

This fall, four members of Associated Geosciences Ltd.'s (AGL) Burnaby office travelled to the Canadian Arctic to conduct a series of geophysical surveys for a diamond exploration company. AGL was retained to map local variations in the magnetic and gravitational fields in areas thought to be prospective for diamonds.

Each day, a helicopter dropped off our team at the project site, a boulder-strewn part of the tundra. The weather was often sunny, with temperatures between 5 and 15 degrees Celsius. Team members then strapped on magnetometer or gravity equipment, and proceeded to go on a day-long hike across the barren lands.

Snowy owl fledgling keeps a close eye on the geophysical crew

One day, a snowy owl continually harassed the crew. They did not understand why, until they came upon three snowy owl fledglings a few minutes later. The birds, about 45 cm long, were very well camouflaged and stayed very still, only turning their heads slightly as the crew walked past. That was one day when the crew marvelled that one can get paid to do this sort of work!

David Butler, P.Geo., the project geophysicist, remarked, "One of the advantages of working for a geoscience consulting firm is that one occasionally gets to work in beautiful parts of the world. While the project did not quite amount to a paid vacation, it was nevertheless quite enjoyable."

AGL is an affiliate of the Associated Engineering group of companies. For more information, contact Dave Butler at Dave.Butler@associatedgeosciences.ca or Keith.McCandlish@associatedgeosciences.ca.

David Harvey passes on the helm as President of IStructE

IStructE President Report
By David Harvey, M.Sc., P.Eng.

Outgoing IStructE President David Harvey hands over to Sarah Buck, the 88th President for the Institutions Centenary session

I have had a busy, but immensely rewarding year serving as the 87th President of the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE). My term wrapped up with the hand-over to incoming President, Sarah Buck, in London on October 4th. Sarah will have the important task of coordinating IStructE's Centenary activities around the world during her term in office. Locally, our cele- brations will focus on the 2008 Structures Congress which will be held in Vancouver next April. IStructE is a co-sponsor for this major international conference, and Sarah will visit Vancouver to participate.

During my year as IStructE President I have experienced the international dimension of IStructE, with inspiring visits to Singapore, Hong Kong, India, and, most recently, China. Structural engineering has much commonality everywhere, but there were distinct regional differences. Universally, I was struck by the warmth and hospitality of my hosts, and by their skillful and diligent structural engineering. Throughout these visits, my hosts treated my companions and me royalty, and took us on visits to some awe-inspiring structural projects.

Since the last newsletter, I completed my visits to the UK Branches, while fitting in many events at head- quarters in London.

These included several interesting technical presentations, such as one on the impressive winner of the 2006 IStructE Supreme Award, the Sungai Prai Bridge, Malaysia.

Naturally, every year brings its challenges, and I was thrust into the spotlight by the unfortunate collapse of the I-35 Minnesota River Bridge. Interest focused on the safety of Canadian bridges. I was able to reassure the media that our bridge inventory in Canada is well managed.

My final assignment as an ambassador for IStructE, was to chair the judging for the IStructE China awards in Shanghai. Many congratulations to Ove Arup whose entry for Three Pacific Place, Hong Kong, was judged the best project in China over the last two years.

I have had a tremendous experience presiding over IStructE activities for the past year. I am grateful to my colleagues and to Associated Engineering for their strong support, without which this past year's activities could not have occurred. I have learned a lot about the practice of structural engineering internationally, and believe that I have been able to contribute a strong Canadian viewpoint. Noticeably, whenever I mentioned the challenges of structural engineering in Canada, a lot of interest resulted, suggesting that my time has been well spent.