A Prince George construction firm won a top prize at a provincial government award ceremony, for a northern highway project which was completed last year.
The project leadership of Allnorth Consultants Ltd. on the Fort Fraser Overhead was the best of its kind in B.C., this past year, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. Allnorth won the Construction Management and Supervision Services category in the ministry's seventh Annual Awards for Consulting Engineers.
Other categories included: Design and Contract Preparation - Roads, Design and Contract Preparation - Structures, and Specialized Engineering Services.
"This award highlights the expert supervisory skills of Allnorth Consultants in overseeing the design that improved a rail overhead on a busy highway," said Bond. "Through every step of the project, the company kept the lines of communication open with the ministry about its progress and possible challenges, which helped ensure the project's success in the eyes of the ministry and the community."
Minister Bond told The Citizen the project was itself highly unusual. An innovative technique allowed the vital road link on Highway 16 near the town of Fraser Lake to remain open while weeks of work was done on the bridge.
She explained the project crew cut the overhead in half along the centreline, allowing single-lane alternating traffic to pass over the structure throughout the project, first on one half and then on the other as needed. This minimized delays, greatly reduced traffic on the local side roads and allowed them to avoid building a detour bridge in a sensitive park (Beaumont Provincial Park).
The Fort Fraser Overhead project included strengthening the substructure of the rail overhead, widening the deck, improving the structure's alignment and widening its approaches.
Other winners in the ministry's seventh Annual Awards for Consulting Engineers also had northern connections, including the two runners-up to Allnorth. One was CMS Focus Construction Management Services of Victoria for work they did four-laning a part of Highway 97 near Quesnel, the other was McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd. of Surrey for a four-laning project near 100 Mile House.
In the Design and Contract Preparation category, the runners up were CH2M Hill of Kamloops for its work on the Prince George South Weigh Scale and four-laning project, and R.F. Binnie & Associates Ltd. of Burnaby for a four-laning project near Williams Lake.
In the Design and Contract Preparation - Structures category, one of the runners-up was Stantec Consulting Inc., of Victoria for its work on the Bissette Creek Bridge near Pouce Coupe.
In the Specialized Engineering Services category, one of the runners-up was Terra Archaeology Ltd. of Richmond for its archaeological work on Highway 97 at the Wright Station Curves project north of Lac La Hache.
