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General and Trade Contracting

May 12, 2008

Construction workers contribute to rise in number of employees with no fixed workplace

The construction industry accounted for one-third of the increase in workers who reported no fixed workplace address between 2001 and 2006, according to Statistics Canada.

May 12, 2008

Normerica creates warm retreat at Cypress Mountain

The 48,000-square-foot timber structure at Cypresss Mountain will feature a large main floor family restaurant, a banquet room, a corporate meeting space, and a large bar and grill overlooking the Super Pipe at Cypress Mountain. Cypress Resort is the official freestyle skiing and snowboard venue for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

May 12, 2008

Get ready for the green industrial revolution

All sorts of ideas, some old, some revamped, some all new. And all helping make the point that as we deal with the energy crunch that is part of the drawn-out emergency known as global warming, there are going to be many, many bit players in the drive toward solutions. But, writes columnist Korky Koroluk, there is unlikely to be one big star.

May 7, 2008

Canadian economy shows signs of recession

The Canadian economy showed signs of entering a recession in February, while the construction sector experienced low rates of growth.

May 7, 2008

Barnett Dembek Architects’ Nordel Annex project fit for a feast

Plans for Nordel Annex, a commercial facility and banquet hall in North Surrey, have been designed by Barnett Dembek Architects.

May 5, 2008

Unions claim provincial statistics underestimate number of employee fatalities

British Columbia and Alberta labour unions commemorated the 13th International Day of Mourning amid claims that provincial government statistics underestimate the numbers of employees killed.

April 30, 2008

Saskatoon begins rebuilding northern power line

SaskPower is starting work on a $15.6 million project to rebuild the 72-kilovolt (kV) power line serving areas north of Prince Albert, along the corridor to La Ronge.

April 30, 2008

All Aboard in Nanaimo

Work is proceeding on a new Departure Bay ferry terminal in Nanaimo, B.C. The architect is Clive Grout Architecture Ltd.

April 30, 2008

Net zero approach vital to energy conservation

The initial choices in designing the building envelope determine the degree to which mechanical systems and excess energy are required to facilitate human comfort.

April 28, 2008

Architects Institute of British Columbia recognizes exceptional projects

Eight of the best designed projects in the province were recognized at the recent Architects Institute of British Columbia (AIBC) Awards Gala.

April 28, 2008

Repair work begins on Pitt River bridge

A nine-metre tower of rebar, one of the support pylons for the Pitt River bridge, fell over in the early hours of April 14 when a crane came into contact with a guy wire. Despite this setback the bridge is scheduled for completion in late 2009.

April 23, 2008

Manitoba program to improve conditions for temporary foreign workers lacks teeth, labour says

The federal government and the province of Manitoba have launched a new initiative to improve working conditions for Temporary Foreign Workers, but there are no mechanisms in place to monitor or enforce the program.

April 23, 2008

Romeo becomes Juliet at Farmer Construction’s residential project

Built on the site of former Victoria landmark Romeo’s Pizza, the Juliet building’s 14-storey, cast-in-place concrete structure will offer space for 95 suites and ground-level retail.

April 21, 2008

Dockside Green strives for LEED Platinum certification

Dockside Green will include three different neighbourhoods, about 1.3 million square feet of mixed use facilities and about 2,500 people in the 15-acre reclaimed brownfield site when it is finished. The development along Victoria’s waterfront is aiming to become North America’s first LEED Platinum-certified community.

April 21, 2008

BCIT offers new degree in electrical engineering

The British Columbia Institute of Technology has announced it will offer a new bachelor of engineering degree in electrical eangineering, beginning in September 2008.

April 21, 2008

TransAlta-Alstom partnership takes aim at carbon-capture project

Canadian power generation company TransAlta Corp. has struck a deal with France’s Alstom to develop a carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) project in Alberta.

April 16, 2008

Construction industry’s pay-when-paid debate continues

Transferred risk, due diligence, ethics and who is the bad guy — these are the common themes that emerge in any discussion of pay-when-paid practices in construction. But how pay-when-paid is viewed often depends on where someone is in the industry ‘food chain.’

April 16, 2008

Architects must encourage real progress on green building, not ‘greenwash’

Buildings are the biggest source of emissions and energy consumption in Canada. They play a major role in the environmentally unfriendly trends that project that energy consumption will increase by 37 per cent and greenhouses gases by 36 per cent over the next 20 years in North America alone.

April 16, 2008

Number of temporary foreign workers in construction rises

In response to the industry’s need to know more about temporary labour sources, the Construction Sector Council has just published “Temporary Foreign Workers in the Canadian Construction Industry: An Analysis of Programs and Mechanisms.”

April 16, 2008

Campbell Construction makes ‘emergency addition’ to Victoria General Hospital

Premier Gordon Campbell recently broke ground at the new $18.8 million addition to the Victoria General Hospital.

April 14, 2008

ASHRAE creates “net zero” energy building tools

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) is intent on developing tools to help designers create “net zero” energy buildings by 2020.

April 14, 2008

Kiewit builds iron constitution for new Pitt River Bridge

Iron workers tie-in rebar on one of the concrete support columns that will help carry the load of the new eight-lane Pitt River Bridge.

April 14, 2008

Farmer Construction builds big at Bayview Residences

The Bayview Residences project managers are K.G. Kidd & Associates, Canadian Development Services Ltd. and Praxis Architects.