What's New

Blue Mountain Resorts – Village Conference Centre, Phase 2

CCTA has been retained by Blue Mountain Resorts to prepare the civil engineering design drawings for Phase 2 of the Village Conference Centre located adjacent to the Village at Blue Mountain. CCTA held their Christmas Party in the Phase 1 building in 2009. The Phase 2 expansion will include a new 3,180 sq. m. pre-engineered metal enclosure which will house four tennis courts, change rooms and 2,700 sq. m. of public function space and washrooms. The proposed Phase 2 expansion will replace the existing tennis bubble. Construction costs are estimated at $9.0 million.

Victoria Harbour WTP Expansion, Township of Tay

The Class EA Environmental Study Report for the expansion of the Tay Area Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in Victoria Harbour is now in the final 30-day review period. We are proceeding with the preliminary design of the WTP expansion, which will increase the plant capacity to 8,150 m3/day to serve a population of about 11,800. The project involves replacing old water treatment package units with state-of-the-art pressure membrane filtration units, replacing the low lift and high lifts pumps, upgrading the electrical and building mechanical equipment, and adding a diesel generator for emergency power. Due to very compact nature of the new filtration units, the expansion will be accommodated within the existing building. The proposed water treatment process will result in very high quality drinking water.

Martin Grove Village Water Treatment Plant Upgrade

CCTA continues to work closely with Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities Inc.; this time in completing the design and construction administration and inspection of $100,000 worth of upgrades to the WTP servicing Martin Grove Village just north of Waterloo. The WTP, which provides potable water to 136 modular homes, was experiencing failures, most of which were related to its aging process control system and instrumentation. The upgrades included: replacing and upgrading the instrumentation; replacing and re-programming the PLC with a touch screen interface; programming and integrating the alarm systems for the WTP and two sewage pumping stations; and refurbishing the filtration system for iron and sulfur removal. Parkbridge has now asked CCTA to design and obtain approvals for the upgrade to one of the Martin Grove sewage pumping stations. The upgrade will entail providing a safer wet well access and implementing measures to reduce overflows.

Solar Energy

The Feed in Tariff program (FIT) is a standardized program created by the Government of Ontario and administered by Ontario Power Authority to promote green energy generation. Successful applicants enter into a contract in which they agree to sell green energy produced by their system to the grid at a fixed price, which is intended to cover the cost of the system and provide a reasonable return on investment over the life of the contract. Solar, wind, water, and bio-energy (bio gas, landfill gas) systems are all eligible for the program. CCTA's structural team has been working with a number of solar energy companies to assist with the construction of solar energy producing systems. Micro FIT systems (those 10 kilowatts or less in size) can be applied for at anytime and CCTA will typically provide engineering assistance, after approval has been granted from OPA, in support of a building permit application. For Small FIT systems (those over 10 kilowatts up to 500 kilowatts in size) a limited month-long application window closed on January 18, 2013. For these systems, CCTA provided engineering services in support of our clients' applications to OPA. Most of the solar systems CCTA have been involved with are roof mounted on sloped roofs (or "flush mount" systems) involving the erection of an aluminum racking system to support the solar panels (or modules). On flat roofs, ballasted systems are typically used whereby the panels are mounted on an angled racking system which is held down using ballast consisting of concrete pads or other heavy bulk materials. In both cases, CCTA will typically complete a visual assessment and structural analysis of the roof to determine whether the condition of the roof is satisfactory and whether the roof framing is adequate to support the additional load and altered load distribution resulting from the solar system. CCTA has also assisted with foundation designs for solar trackers, in which case the racking and panels are supported on a standalone pedestal and concrete foundation. These trackers are capable of rotating on their own to maximize energy production.

Canal Road Embankment Stabilization and Culvert Replacement, Township of Ramara

The Township of Ramara retained CCTA to complete the design, tendering and construction inspection/administration for the embankment stabilization and road reconstruction of a 60m section of Canal Road just west of Lock 37 along the Trent Severn Waterway. The embankment has eroded over time and compromised the stability of the roadway. Morris Shelswell & Sons Excavation and Grading Ltd. has been contracted to complete the work and the embankment stabilization phase of the project is to be completed in March 2013. The road reconstruction phase of the project will begin in the spring of 2013. Further west on Canal Road, the replacement of an old concrete box culvert is underway. Four Brothers Construction has been contracted to complete the installation of a 2.2m dia. CSP culvert complete with wire basket retaining walls at both the north and south ends. Similar to other project, the in-water work is to be complete in March, 2013 with road reconstruction following in the spring.

PROJECT MILESTONES: Lake Opeongo Dam

The maintenance period for the contract to reconstruct the Lake Opeongo Dam was due to expire on November 24, 2012 so just before that the Ministry of Natural Resources, Maple Reinders Constructors Ltd. and CCTA completed the end of maintenance inspection. The MNR confirmed the dam has performed as intended over the past year. During the inspection only minor deficiencies were observed including minor shrinkage cracks, some delamination of the sack rubbed finish and chipped concrete. The repair work will be completed over one to two days during the summer of 2013 when the upstream lake level is at the lowest. Last year the vehicle access to the dam was closed and could only be reached by air or water. The MNR was good enough to treat the group to a helicopter ride. We took off from the Muskoka Air Field and flew approximately 45 minutes to Algonquin Park where we were forced to land due to low clouds. After the second take off, the trip continued for 4 hours and included a stop at Lake Opeongo Dam, a tour of the park and visits to Booth Lake Dam and Cache Lake Dam (another CCTA dam repair project for the MNR). The route travelled followed the water ways (rivers and lakes) and highways in order to stay low and be below the low cloud cover. We also flew over the Highway 117 Bridge in Baysville which was a recent CCTA bridge rehabilitation project for the District of Muskoka.

Tim Horton's Plaza on First Street, Town of Collingwood

Get ready to roll up more rims! The Tim Horton's on First Street in the Town of Collingwood is getting a face lift. CCTA has been retained by Charis Development to complete the design drawings for the site servicing required as a result of demolition of the existing convenience store and the construction of a new 300 sq. m. Tim Horton's complete with additional seating and a drive-thru. The convenience store will move across the parking lot to where the current Tim Horton's is located. Construction is anticipated to start this spring.