INNOVATION May-June 2019

2O18 ♦ 2O19 PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

SQUAMISH LANDFILL VERTICAL EXPANSION The Squamish Landfill would have reached capacity in 2018 forcing the District of Squamish to find alternate solid waste disposal options. These options are limited along the Sea-to-Sky corridor, and exporting the solid waste outside the region would come with an increased cost and a significant environmental impact. Sperling Hansen developed and implemented a vertical landfill expansion concept that increased the airspace capacity to 2027, providing the District additional time to explore and assess alternate solid waste disposal options. The expansion consists a 10-metre-high reinforced mechanically stabilized earth berm to allow for waste to be landfilled to a higher elevation without compromising landfill stability. Project Owner: District of Squamish. Particpants: Sperling Hansen Associates: Dr. Tony Sperling, P.Eng., Mircea Cvaci, P.Eng. Thurber Engineering: David Regehr, P.Eng./GIT; Christopher Clarke, P.Eng.

VANCOUVER ISLAND UNIVERSITY GEOEXCHANGE – SECOND LIFE FOR LEGACY MINEWORKINGS Mine labourers in the early 1900s, toiling in dark, damp, and hazardous underground workings of the Wakesiah Colliery, couldn’t have imagined they were unwittingly developing core infrastructure for a future renewable energy system that would heat and cool university campus buildings. Nanaimo’s Vancouver Island University overlies legacy underground workings of the former Wakesiah Coal Mine that operated from 1918 to 1930. When mining ended, dewatering pumps were stopped and the mineworkings were flooded with water. Investigations determined favourable potential for using the accumulated water as a renewable heat source for a geoexchange district energy system. In late- 2018, the first phase of the system was commissioned, thus completing the transition of legacy infrastructure originally serving one of the most carbon intensive forms of energy to, nearly a century later, serving one of the cleanest forms of energy. Project Owner: Vancouver Island University. Lead Consultant: Falcon Engineering: Jeff Quibell, P.Eng., Don Poole, P.Eng., Richard Gaab, EIT.

GABION HYDRAULIC DROP STRUCTURE Tourmaline Oil Corp. hired SweetTech for detailed engineering design of a gabion hydraulic drop structure at their natural gas facility. Propak Systems Ltd. prepared the overall facility design, which required runoff to be conveyed down a 5-metre drop, at a 2H:1V slope, with flows exceeding 1 square-cubic-metre per second. The design included an upslope clay seepage cutoff, 0.5-metre high PVC coated gabion wire baskets, round river rocks, and an energy dissipation pool and outlet weir. SweetTech’s 3-D model allowed Propak to check clearances against other facility infrastructure, prepare construction quantities, and for detailed survey layout. The picture shows the 3-D model compared to actual construction. This innovative design and 3-D model provided a functional site drainage solution, and a visually appealing end product that provides the required 25-year lifespan of the structure. Participants: SweetTech Engineering Consultants: Eric Sweet, P.Eng., Austyn Schutta, P.Eng., Thomas Schaepsmeyer, EIT (APEGA)

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