Leadership changes in Edmonton office

(L to R) Helder Afonso, Garry Drachenberg, Dave Anderson

Rod Karius, P.Eng., Vice President and General Manager of Northern Alberta operations is pleased to announce the following appointments to our management team in Edmonton:

With Steve Croxford's relocation to our Burnaby office (see article here), Helder Afonso, P.Eng., has taken over the role of Manager of the Structural Group. Helder has over 20 years experience in the design and supervision of a variety of civil, industrial, and municipal projects. He will continue to manage the Industrial and Building Services team.

Our Electrical, Instrumentation and Controls team is now part of the Water and Wastewater Group under the leadership of Garry Drachenberg, P.Eng. With over 25 years of experience, Garry has a diverse consulting background in water and wastewater engineering, including projects for municipal and industrial clients.

Dave Anderson, P.Eng., has transferred to the Edmonton office from Burnaby, bringing with him extensive airport experience in Canada and overseas. Dave has over 25 years experience in project management, contract administration, and construction supervision of airport and highway projects. Dave will lead our Aviation Practice from Edmonton.

Asset Management Plan provides Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture with “corporate memory” of major assets in its East Side Pump Station

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture – Irrigation Development Branch (the Ministry) retained Associated Engineering to assess the condition of the East Side Pump Station (ESPS), located near Gardiner Dam on Lake Diefenbaker, and develop an Asset Management Plan (AMP) that will allow the Ministry to review the pump station's future functional viability and sustainability.

View of pump inside pump station

The Ministry manages over $200 million in irrigation infrastructure in Saskatchewan. Over the years, this infrastructure ceased to focus solely on irrigation, and now also provides water for parks and recreation as well as residential, commercial, and industrial developments Longterm effective management of the irrigation network is vital in order to sustain and encourage future developments that rely on the network.

The East Side Pump Station has been in operation for over 40 years. The pump station provides the main supply of water to the Saskatchewan Southeast Water Supply System. The system comprises 137 killometres of canals and five reservoirs, and provides water for numerous end-users, such as recreation, wildlife, industry, urban and rural domestic water, and irrigation. Recognizing the importance in maintaining the pump station to continue to meet current operational requirements, mitigate risk, and preserve the station, the Ministry initiated a complete assessment of the ESPS facility to evaluate its current condition and to determine immediate and future needs for equipment, repair, rehabilitation and replacement, and operation and maintenance.

As part of the Asset Management Plan, an inspection of the ESPS facility was conducted to determine the current condition of the facility. Engineers in the mechanical, electrical, structural, and hydraulic disciplines evaluated the pumps, intake, pipeline, outlet, building structure, and the electrical and mechanical equipment. Professional divers completed an underwater investigation of the wet well, inlet structure, trash rack, pump bells, impellers, and miscellaneous sub-surface components.

The discipline specialists reviewed the age, current condition, operating status, and criticality of components, and gathered information regarding potential remedial measures required for each asset. Technical assessments were completed by each discipline to supplement the information presented in the formal rating systems and AMP.

The AMP provides guidance for rehabilitation planning and operation and maintenance for the ESPS and its major ancillary components. A prioritized list of items were identified that need to be addressed, in both the short-term and long-term, to maintain the ESPS's level-ofservice for the downstream consumers.

Project Engineer, Derek Trischuk, advises, “The Ministry now has a detailed database or “corporate memory” of all the major assets within the ESPS facility. The database will provide value in determining future replacement and rehabilitation plans.” Results were presented in a detailed project database and WEB Geographic Information System that will permit the Ministry to refine the model as the inventory changes. Hence the Ministry has the ability to prioritize items for replacement via any or all of the metrics applied.