With the help of the Work Zone Signing Committee (WZSC), several updates have been made to the Traffic Control Devices Manual For Work Zones (TCDMWZ).
Most of these changes are to help clarify existing traffic accommodation policies. A summary of these changes can be found in the attached Record of Amendments.
The revised manual (including this Record of Amendments) can be found at: http://www.highways.gov.sk.ca/business → Ministry Manuals → Traffic Control Devices Manual For Work Zones.
The Heavy Construction Safety Association of Saskatchewan is hosting its AGM Awards Banquet on March 27, 2020 in Regina.
As the weather warms and the daylight-hours increase, truckers and shippers are being reminded to begin reducing truck loads on some provincial highways. During this time of year, secondary highways revert back to regulation weights, which will prevent damage to these roads.
“Weight restrictions are put in place at various times of the year on provincial highways as a measure to prevent damage to the surface or road bed,” Highways and Infrastructure Minister Greg Ottenbreit said. “As the weather warms up, some roads in the province can become vulnerable to soft spots and surface cracks as the frost comes out of the roadbed.”
During the cold, dark, winter months of December, January and February, the road bed freezes and becomes stronger which supports heavier truck loads.
Due to mild temperatures in the forecast, winter weights are being removed. Effective Monday, March 9 at 12:01 a.m., existing winter weights are removed across southern Saskatchewan and revert back to normal regulation weight. Typically, winter weights are removed province-wide on March 15, weather permitting.
Spring road restrictions are used by the province and rural municipalities to mitigate damage to infrastructure. Typically, these road restrictions start in March in southwest Saskatchewan and remain over a two to three-week period.
“Preserving Saskatchewan’s road network is vital for transporting goods to market,” Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities President Ray Orb said. “By reducing weights during the spring, we can reduce maintenance costs and ensure our roadways remain intact.”
The road bans reduce allowable weights on RM roads and secondary weight provincial highways by 10 to 15 per cent and typically last about six weeks.
Originally, the nine-month primary highways are designed and constructed to carry only lower secondary weight loads.
Weights are reverted back to the design loads (secondary weight) during spring to reduce damage from the spring-thaw.
As a large province with considerable difference in climate in the north and the south, there are different dates for when the primary weights are in effect. In the north of the province, the annual weight increase on the nine-month primary highways are from July 1 to March 31 of the following year. In the south of the province, the annual weight increase on the nine-month primary highways will occur earlier, from June 15 to March 15 of the following year. This change will help to sustain road conditions in the south, where spring thaw occurs earlier.
To check which highways are impacted by weight restrictions, please visit truck weight classifications and restrictions at www.saskatchewan.ca/trucking. Spring road bans will be posted as necessary under the “New Spring Order” link.
To view the interactive map showing winter weight restrictions and spring road bans, visit www.saskatchewan.ca/highwayhotline and scroll down to restrictions. Information is also available by contacting the Highway Hotline at 511.
The industry is working hard to create a better environment for women in construction. Organizations across North America are cognizant of the impending labour gap and the construction industry needs to coax more than 300,000 Canadians to choose a construction career in order to keep pace with demand, according to On-Site magazine. Ensuring that women view construction as a viable career choice is paramount to filling those labour requirements.
To stay up to date about what different organizations are doing when it comes to attracting women to the trades, visit www.women-in-construction.ca.
Being the grandson of ELRUS founder Roland Russell makes being the national technical lead for the company a family affair. Although Spencer began working for the company when it opened its Saskatoon branch in 2013, he was introduced to the business at a far earlier age.
“Essentially growing up, I would spend every Saturday and Sunday with my grandfather,” Spencer recalls. “His idea of the weekend was being at the office. I was introduced and surrounded by our equipment at a very young age. It was always kind of in my blood through family, but it was introduced to me and sparked in me right out of the gate. It was a no-brainer.”
ELRUS CEO Carollyne Coulson recalls Spencer spending endless hours with his grandfather around the company’s shops and touring western Canada with him, going to conventions and customer sites.
“Spencer started working summer jobs focused on equipment environments about the age of 14,” Carollyne says. “This focused area of interest continued throughout school and his first job out of high school was working for Russell Redi-Mix, one of Canada’s premier contractors, where he got first-hand exposure to the challenges of the Canadian crushing environment. He started with ELRUS in our Saskatoon branch when it opened in 2013, under the mentorship of Jared Medlang, assisted by ELRUS’ most experienced mechanical guru, Brent Martens. Between Roland, Brent and Jared, Spencer has been mentored by real industry pros and he soaked it up, blending this into his natural curiosity and eye for all things mechanical.”
Spencer has gone on and became the first person to be factory trained by Sandvik in Sweden with the new certification standards.
He has been a key person and technical lead on some key projects for ELRUS, including most recently, the installation of three Sandvik CH660 500-hp cone crushers at the Martin Marietta installation in Wyoming, along with many other installations across Canada and the United States.
Spencer’s favourite aspects of the business are the opportunity to take things apart and solve problems, while creating great relationships with people in the industry.
“I’ve got a lot of close friends out of it,” he says.
Carollyne says his big energy, enthusiasm and genuine impulse to be of service to ELRUS’ customers, combined with his curiosity and mechanical savvy, bring a big contribution to the ELRUS team.
“Currently stationed in Calgary with the mechanical and technical services team, Spencer brings a well-rounded expertise and experience well beyond his years and balanced perspective to solving problems for our customers – including forays into product development, effective field service process solutions, and mechanical that is well needed in our industry,” she says.
Our industry is cautiously optimistic as we await the unveiling of the 2019–20 provincial budget.
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With CONEXPO ongoing this week and the 2020 construction season kicking off, SHCA is advising all members to ensure they have the proper preventative measures in place to address any potential exposure to COVID-19.
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Frustrated with single-window procurement? You’re not alone.
It is our understanding that the ideology behind single-window procurement was to streamline processes that would enable greater efficiency and smoother operations. It has become abundantly clear that this is not happening.
Unnecessary delays in awarding tenders has become commonplace for many of our members. That is why I, on behalf of our association, recently sent a letter to government requesting immediate changes to this process. I encourage everyone to practise patience as we await a response from government. Hopefully this letter hits the ears it is intended for and a resolution is found sooner rather than later.
We are well aware that this procurement process needs improvements. I outlined in the letter that our recommendation for resolve is simple – our association would like to be consulted on any proposed changes moving forward.
We as an association welcome consultation and we are available to offer input and suggestions as to how we can improve operations. Good communications and consultation are central to the management process and assume critical importance when dealing with changes in working practices and procedures.
We appreciate attempts by the procurement staff at fixing a broken system, but their inexperience in road building and construction hinders their ability to assess the critical areas that need mending.
Effective consultation would allow the procurement team and our association to voice concerns and hopefully find common ground that would resolve this issue.
We are looking for accountability from our government. We ask that projects are awarded in a timely fashion to ensure completion dates can be met and to provide clarity for spring and summer scheduling. After all, association members are expected to present their bids before the tender closing dates.
Our business community suffers because of these delays and we understand our members are feeling pinched and they manage a balancing act of over-promising and under-delivering on jobs.
We’re hopeful we will see progress with this sputtering procurement system and a more streamlined way of doing business. Thank you for your patience. Stay tuned.
The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure (MHI) is continually exploring ways to improve the way we do business. Innovation helps us respond to the changing environment in which we operate. The Innovation Pipeline (TIP) is a new tool that will help us to innovate together. MHI is currently using TIP for innovation challenges to help us solve problems and come up with innovative solutions on a wide array of issues.
To this end, MHI is seeking input from key stakeholders using this new tool and are in the process of planning an innovation challenge to address the issue of late season paving.
MHI will be reaching out to members of the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association (SHCA) to seek their participation in this upcoming innovation challenge.
A request (sent via email) will be sent out to SHCA members for participation in this innovation challenge. MHI is seeking one (1) participant from each organization/company of SHCA to participate in this TIP challenge.
More information about the challenge is below.
Each year, contractors are faced with challenges when striving to complete their paving work in the late fall months when the days are shorter, and the temperatures are cooler. Our current specifications have temperature limitations to ensure adequate bonding – to reduce the risk of slip failures, density and joint density. This past season the temperature limitations were lowered, however, anticipated outcomes were not achieved. This innovation challenge will seek out other ideas that can be considered by MHI for implementation.
The end-goal is to allow for late season paving while still producing quality asphalt concrete and to ensure the safety of the travelling public is paramount. This innovation challenge is aligned to the MHI’s strategic goals of improved road conditions and improved safety supporting the vision: Transportation – Connecting Saskatchewan to the world.
All ideas submitted will help inform the solution that the MHI will adopt for late season pavements, beginning as early as Fall 2020.
SHCA members are asked to indicate their interest in participating in the challenge before Fri., Feb. 21. The tentative start date for the challenge will be in March 2020.
Click here to download the information package.