INNOVATION July-August 2012

JULY/AUGUST 2012

VOLUME 16 NUMBER 4

v iewpoint

I was driving back to Kamloops on an early July morning following some APEGBC business on the coast. This is a trip that I have completed hundreds of times over the past 24 years. Generally, it is a reasonable three hour drive, depending on the weather and road conditions. The previous week I had been caught up in a serious traffic delay just east of Hope as the road contractor worked to complete paving repairs in between the heavy rains of an exceptionally wet spring. I could see that I was looking at a potential two-hour delay just to get to the Coquihalla intersection—the price of maintaining the engineered integrity of a vital transportation link in the province. Having worked a summer with the Ministry of Highways out of Allison Pass in 1977, I recalled there was a back road through Kawkawa Lake to Othello Road on the Coquihalla. As I zipped up the back road bypassing the paving lineup, I saw the sign for the Othello Tunnels. As I have driven by over the past years I’ve often thought of stopping for a revisit, and did so on this day. Imagine a series of five rough-hewn tunnels cut though the shear granite canyon walls over the raging Coquihalla River. In the most dramatic section, the tunnel emerges from the canyon wall, immediately bridges the river and plunges into the opposite canyon wall. The Othello/Quintette tunnels were designed by CPR engineer Andrew McCulloch between 1911 and 1916 to complete the Kettle Valley Railway, linking the coast to the Kootenays. His greatest challenge was crossing the 300-foot Coquihalla gorge, carved from solid granite. Other engineers had suggested bypassing the gorge, but McCulloch chose to build directly through it. The construction was completed largely by hand with the assistance of a few horse- drawn scrapers and blasting with black powder. The railway was nicknamed “McCulloch’s Wonder.” That morning, I felt like a pilgrim as I viewed what was recognized as an engineering marvel of its age, and one that has stood the test of time. The railway tunnels stand as a monument to ingenuity and the importance of going beyond conventional thinking. They also represent hard work—not just McCulloch’s, but the many who laboured to bring the railway to completion. In this issue of the magazine, as we do every year at this time, we are showcasing the work of APEGBC members from around the province and beyond. The Innovation 2011/2012 Project Highlights feature more than 80 projects; the product of the labour of many APEGBC engineers and geoscientists without whose contributions these projects would not see the light of day. Echoing McCulloch’s footsteps, they are creating modern marvels of their age, or, more often than not, applying their expertise and ability to the everyday workings that keep our world running: transportation, civil infrastructure, energy, communication and much more. It is with no small amount of pride that we can look on what our professions have been able to accomplish. But, it is with humility that we recognize the motivation that underlies the work that we do: every day we are working towards the well-being, security and comfort of British Columbians. And, that is the real wonder.

Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC Suite 200 - 4010 Regent Street, Burnaby, BC Canada V5C 6N2 Tel: (604) 430-8035 Fax: (604) 430-8085 E-mail: apeginfo@apeg.bc.ca Internet: www.apeg.bc.ca Toll free: 1-888-430-8035

2011/2012 COUNCIL, APEGBC P resident J H ( Jeff) Holm PEng FEC

V ice P resident M (Michael) Isaacson PEng PhD P ast P resident F W (F rank ) D enton PE ng FEC

McCulloch’s Wonder

COUNCILLORS M H (Matt) Cameron PEng FEC; E A (Emily) Cheung PEng FEC; J J (John) Clague PGeo PhD; A (Ana) Fernandes CIM FCSI; H (Herb) Hawson PEng FEC; D M (Donna) Howes PEng; H G (Harlan) Kelly PEng; J (Joe) Martignago; A J (Andy) Mill PEng StructEng FEC; M I (Mark) Porter PEng StructEng;

S R (Ross) Rettie PEng FEC; (Mike) Waberski BCLS; M C (Michael) Wrinch PEng PhD; S (Sheila) Wynn PhD

ASSOCIATION STAFF D V Doyle P Eng C hief E xecutive O fficer and R egistrar J Y Sinclair C hief O perating O fficer T M Y C hong PEng C hief R egulatory O fficer and D eputy R egistrar J Cho CGA D irector , F inance and A dministration P R Mitchell PEng D irector , P rofessional P ractice , S tandards and D evelopment G M Pichler PEng D irector , R egistration G A Thiele LLB D irector , L egislation , E thics and C ompliance M L Archibald A ssociate D irector , C ommunications and S takeholder E ngagement R M F ilipiak P Eng A ssociate D irector , A dmissions D Gamble A ssociate D irector , I nformation S ervices V Lai CGA A ssociate D irector , F inance and A dministration J J G Larocque PEng LLB A ssociate D irector , P rofessional P ractice

Jeff Holm PEng FEC President

A Lim A/ A ssociate D irector , M ember S ervices D Olychick A ssociate D irector , M ember S ervices

Melinda Lau M anaging E ditor

EDITORIAL BOARD S Chiu PEng; S E Cook PEng; R Gupta PEng P h D; C L Hall PGeo; S K Hayes PEng; K S Hirji PEng; M A Klippenstein PEng; I Kokan PEng; M E Leslie PEng; B Thomson PGeo FEC (Hon)

president@ apeg.bc.ca

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i n n ova t i o n