February 26, 2010

Bermingham Construction, Flatiron Construction Corp. and their Italian partners, Deal, all played a role in developing the innovative pile-driving, girder-launching gantry system.

FEATURE | Roadbuilding

Column: Green theme popping up again and again for road builders

Green Again was the theme of the 83rd Ontario Road Builders’ Association (ORBA) convention February 1-2 in Toronto. Unimaginative? Perhaps. An overworking of the ‘green’ terminology? Absolutely, and especially since it is the second year in a row the association has gone to the well with the green theme.

But if somewhat simple and seemingly redundant, the ‘Green Again’ theme is a pointed reminder to the road building industry that environmental stewardship is not just a new flavour of the month. It is a growing social imperative that is changing the way contractors do business and that is having an increasing impact on cost and profitability.

Speakers from the insurance industry gave convention delegates a look at the enormous new liabilities to which they are exposed by environmental regulation. Rick Taylor and Mark Del Ben from HKMB Hub International ran through slide after slide listing the potential exposures from fuel spills, groundwater contamination and sandblasting to contaminated soils, habitat preservation and dewatering operations.

Case study scenarios pointed to contractor costs in the hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars for managing environmental incidents, some of which could have been foreseen at the time of bidding and many that could not.

Providing some insight into the growing importance owners are placing on environmental management, Pat Boeckner, Director of Transportation Planning for the Ministry of Transportation, talked about how the ministry is integrating environmental requirements in its contracts and guidelines and how it is coordinating efforts with a number of federal and provincial agencies to ensure that its work can be carried out efficiently but within the framework of environmental best practices.

It was apparent that MTO is stick handling as many new regulations and expectations from other agencies responsible for environmental matters as contractors are seeing passed on from owners.

A major ORBA role in the greening of the road building industry is to raise the awareness of members about environmental requirements and their impact on the contracting business, and to inform and educate them about the risks and how to manage them.

To that end a new award was announced at the ORBA convention that will be awarded in 2011 and will recognize contractor environmental achievement and leadership in municipal or provincial highways work.

The award was announced by ORBA environment committee chair, Marlene Yakabuski, who is vice-president, corporate affairs for Bot Construction Limited. Yakabuski also urged contractors to attend ORBA’s three-day ‘Environmental Compliance in Civil Construction’ education course this month. It was developed specifically for civil contractors and serves as not only important education that all senior contractor employees should have, but also as a prerequisite for establishing due diligence.

On the technology side, convention delegates heard about a new bridge-building system that eliminates the need to work in water and produces minimal disruption to the river or stream below.

Patrick Bermingham, president of Bermingham Construction, was one of the masterminds behind the new equipment and he talked about its successful use on a recent design-build project in North Carolina.

Bermingham, Flatiron Construction Corp. and their Italian partners, Deal, all played a role in developing the innovative pile-driving, girder-launching gantry system. It involves a pair of 592-foot-long, 750-ton trusses which place 120-foot precast segments. The system pushed out and drove piles of up to 40 tons to depths of 80 feet on the North Carolina job and there was no environmental disruption.

Another ORBA member at the convention, Mobile Secure Inc., unveiled new equipment used for monitored video protection against equipment theft and vandalism. The unit is as ‘green’ as they come. It runs off solar energy with a seldom-needed backup generator. Newer versions of the equipment are also featuring wind-generated power for the unit. It can even provide power to the project when in remote areas off the grid.

So if the ‘Green Again’ theme of the ORBA convention this year struck some as more of the same from a year ago, it became clear to delegates by the end that green is here to stay and it demands their attention.

It is no longer possible, no matter how remote the location, for contractors to carry on business without concern for the environmental consequences of their actions. Given the pace at which environmental regulation is being created and the emphasis on enforcement, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if the 2011 ORBA convention spotlights the environment for a third consecutive year.

ORBA is thinking ‘Still Getting Greener’ might be the next step in a continuing effort to inform, educate and encourage contractors to recognize their growing environmental risk and responsibilities, and to develop new technology and best practices to address it.

Rob Bradford is the Executive Director of the Ontario Road Builders’ Association and is a member of DCN’s Editorial Advisory Board

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