Sewer and Watermain

May 13, 2008

Burst pipes prove need for infrastructure investment, OSWCA says

Two watermain pipe failures in two days in downtown Ottawa are just another example of aging infrastructure meeting a lack of maintenance, says the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association (OSWCA).

April 1, 2008

Ontario budget leaves water and wastewater ‘high and dry,’ Surplis says

Ontario's additional $1 billion in infrastructure funding will help tackle core municipal infrastructure such as roads and bridges but leaves water infrastructure high and dry, say some construction industry officials.

March 28, 2008

Sustainable pipes delivering safety

The Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association submits that reliable and sustainable water piping systems are not only an economic convenience, they are a survival, safety and medical necessity.

March 28, 2008

Construction of London’s $30-million sewer and pumping station project begins soon

Construction of a $30-million sanitary sewer upgrade and pumping station in London, Ontario begins this spring.

March 28, 2008

York Region interceptor sewer project employs most current tunnel technology

A year after construction started, a $76-million interceptor sewer employing the most recent advances in tunnel technology is nearing completion in the York Region town of Richmond Hill.

March 28, 2008

Northern Ontario’s short construction season poses challenges

Of all the differences between the north and the south when it comes to construction, one factor has the biggest impact on sewer and watermain projects – the north’s short building season.

March 28, 2008

New concrete pressure pipe will start as gravity pipe, then become forced main as needs change

Burrowing under Highway 410 and through a number of river crossings while staying clear of hydro lines, a 4.5-kilometre-long sanitary diversion sewer now under construction in Brampton may be the first of its kind in the Greater Toronto Area.

March 28, 2008

L82 Construction marks 25th anniversary by building new headquarters

More than 25 years ago, in the depths of the 1980s recession, Emanuel “Manny” De Melo found himself out of work after his employer folded. He wasn’t alone; soaring interest rates had left many Canadians within the construction industry in the same position.

March 28, 2008

Potholes wreak havoc on infrastructure

Mountains of snow and frequent freeze-thaw conditions in Toronto and much of Ontario this winter have pounded streets and highways into pothole nightmares. But municipalities could face more than road repairs in the months to come as a result of the pothole epidemic.

March 28, 2008

Portions of Ontario Water Resources Act frustrate contractors, delay projects

The Ontario Water Resources Act was designed in part to protect the province’s water resources from industrial and commercial users who might draw more water out of provincial aquifers than they can reasonably sustain.

March 26, 2008

Public-sector share of infrastructure assets in decline, Statistics Canada study finds

The public sector's share of total infrastructure assets in Canada has declined since 1970, according to a study released this month by Statistics Canada.

March 25, 2008

Construction industry looks to Ontario budget for infrastructure funding details

Some construction association officials will be in the lockup at Queen’s Park as Dwight Duncan, finance minister of Ontario delivers the province’s 2008 budget. Few details about how funding from the Liberals’ commitment of $60 billion to ReNew Ontario will be spent over the next 10 years have been available so far. The additional funding was announced earlier this year, just months after the province added another $150 million to its original $300-million Municipal Infrastructure Investment Initiative.

February 27, 2008

GPS-enabled phones help make ‘call before you dig’ easier

A Virginia-based pilot project using GPS-enabled phones could provide a snapshot of how Ontario excavators can dig more efficiently and safely.

February 25, 2008

Construction industry officials oppose making certification compulsory for more construction trades

The current review of compulsory certification for the trades must consider how diverse trades in construction are before it makes any final decisions. Tim Armstrong, Advisor to the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, is conducting a review looking into the impacts an expansion of compulsory certification could have on individual trades that are currently voluntary.

February 21, 2008

Dion’s funding pledge lacks certainty, Canadian construction officials say

Liberal leader Stéphane Dion’s pledge to spend any budgetary surplus beyond $3 billion on crumbling infrastructure lacks the funding certainty municipalities and industries need, Infrastructure Investment Coalition and Canadian Construction Association officials say.

February 21, 2008

Canadian government earmarks $3.3 million for watermain projects in Lasalle and Woolwich Township

The federal government has earmarked $3.3 million to replace crumbling rural watermains in two southwestern Ontario communities: the Town of Lasalle and Woolwich Township.

February 20, 2008

Infrastructure Investment Coalition greets Statistics Canada’s report on aging public infrastructure with reservation

Despite a Statistics Canada study that shows the age of public infrastructure is declining, a municipal infrastructure gap of $123 billion still exists, Infrastructure Investment Coalition officials say. Coalition member and Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario executive director Andy Manahan maintains that the report’s statistics “can be misleading.”