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AIL gets "between a rock and a hard place" to help widen infamous highway for 2010 Games.
Pivotal to Vancouver-Whistler's 2010 Winter Games bid, was the commitment to upgrade the Sea-to-Sky Highway ? a busy, serpentine, two-lane highway that's the only link between the two locations, famous for its beauty and infamous for its slow traffic and about 400 accidents a year. With sheer rock faces on one side and a steep plunge to the ocean and an active rail line on the other side, work crews are living the old adage of being "between a rock and a hard place". And, with 65 MSE walls to build in 100 kms (62 mi), AIL's engineering and technical support teams have been perched right out there with them taking our MSE Structural Walls to even greater extremes.
The challenges extended well beyond the treacherous terrain.
Beyond the steep geographical constraints that required the road to be widened by up to 10 m (32' 10") where there had only been air before, crews also had to navigate a number of other issues including: working around the clock to take advantage of lower traffic volumes; stopping up to 14,000 vehicles a day for a maximum of 20 minutes at a time; having only the narrow road shoulder to stockpile materials on, and; a drop-dead schedule that commanded fast-paced, synchronized deliveries to complete this four-year, $775 million mega-project well before the Games.
Taking dedicated on-site support to another level.
Design/build challenges were formidable and AIL engaged the services of Thurber Engineering Ltd., one of the project's existing sub-design firms, to ensure the best possible outcomes. Working alongside Thurber and other teams, AIL personnel have provided on-site support services virtually every week of the project's first few years. AIL's product performance, timely delivery and intensive support have earned us future opportunities with project team members.
Project-at-a-glance:
65 MSE Structural Walls 45,000 m2, (484,376 ft2)
Also provided structural plate for project, a Super?Cor® Box Culvert and a
number of Bolt-A-Plate® Structures (Arch Extension, Horizontal Ellipse)
Design build: Peter Kiewit Sons Co. a subsidiary of Kiewit Corporation
Prime designer: Hatch Mott MacDonald, MMM Design Group
Retaining wall design: Thurber Engineering Ltd.
Design-build-finance-operate: S2S Transportation Group
End user: BC Ministry of Transportation
Learn more at: www.seatoskyimprovements.ca
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