THE LINK
Volume 15 Issue 1
July 2017
Note from the President 2
Paulson Slide 3
Children’s Hospital 4
Nanoose Bay Drain 5
Kelly #2 Bridge 5
Quesnel Windstorm 6
Snow Slide Area 12 6
Community Support 7
New Employees 8
New Arrivals 8
Retirements 9
Training 10
Camp Creek Bridge 11
Emcon Ontario 12
Crushing 13
Bridges 14
Alaska Highway 15
Safety Note 16
Inside this issue:
We are pleased that the City of Timmins , Ontario has awarded the winter maintenance contract for the arterial roads to Emcon Services Inc. This four year, plus two year extension contract con nues our growth into the Ontario market . We look forward to star ng this new contract in October of this year. Congratula ons to our team for their efforts to date!
Breaking New Ground In Ontario!
Timmins, Ontario
Breaking ground for our new shop building
on Sco Street in Dryden, Ontario! On July
6, 2017 we started our new shop build. July
9, 2017 we were se ng up the forms for
the pour.
2
A Note From the President Frank Rizzardo
What a challenging me we are in . As I write this memo in BC we are surrounded by the largest fire evacua on on record , with some 14,000 residents
being impacted to surrounding communi es of Prince George and Kamloops (this may grow by 10,000 if the town of Williams lake is evacuated ).
As to our ac vi es in BC, we have been concentra ng on the Nego a ons with our Union the BCGEU to secure agreements to ensure that successorship
is carried into the next round of RFP contracts expected to start early this fall .This will allow a level playing field to all bidders . To date we have success‐
fully nego ated four of the agreements with areas 2 and 3 being ra fied and areas 9 and 12 going for votes the week of July 19th. Our area 18 nego a‐
ons were set aside due to the fires in the central interior and the difficulty of travel, as well as the possible risk to employees residences .
We are ac vely busy on several tender fronts , with posi ve results in our Arterial Maintenance contract in Timmins, Ontario .We are also fortunate to
be preferred contractor in the Sudbury Area maintenance contract with the MTO in Ontario that will start September 2018 . We par cipated on a re‐
sponse to a RFQ on a 25 Year Design Build Operate Finance and maintain contract in the Government of the Northwest Territories. . Our team is also
bidding on the 930Km tender of the Alaska Highway put out by the Public Works and Government Access Canada. We have had members a end at the
Niagara and Hamilton Contract areas to ascertain the possibility of bidding the two highly urban areas . All this while our ac vi es con nue to strength‐
en our opera ons base in Dryden with our new building which saw the foo ngs poured during the week of July 9.
In our Dryden contracts we have successfully transi oned from some subcontracted ac vi es to in house, providing much needed summer hours to
staff . We have consistently posted pictures of our ac vi es on our Facebook site . We have a trainer in Ontario from BC on our crushing opera on . We
are progressing with mowing and brushing ac vi es as well as our shoulder maintenance and asphalt patching . We are doing a lot of basic training to
ensure safe opera on of our crews for summer programs . We will be con nuing in the fall with the training of winter ac vi es , like opera ng the Tow
plow and B train equipment . We con nue to put more emphasis on yard and building maintenance , elimina ng hazards at every turn. There is no rea‐
son why our yards cannot be safe places to work for our staff. Hopefully this theme is growing at our sites and housekeeping is heightened to the point
where we do not have to have a regular splurge and it is part of the daily rou ne .
Our efforts at con nued improvement con nue with the introduc on of an improved asphalt repair product imported from the UK . Tes ng and possi‐
ble sales are ongoing . Anything we can do to improve reliability of our patches is a plus for both our company and the province as the owner .
We con nue to look for employee candidates for our growing organiza on , we encourage you to take the opportunity when offered and meet the
varied challenges that are out there . We need quality people at all levels in the company .Should you have a referral or are interested in an open‐
ing please contact or pass the name along to our HR staff .
I cannot end without asking all our staff to remember the challenges of the displaced fire residents , there will be a lot of people needing assistance and I
know we can help . The Floren ne seniors residence in Merri that we are connected to has accommodated 36 seniors from the Ashcro and 100 Mile
areas as an example . We are in the background in Quesnel providing traffic control and offering up water hauling capacity . (Rock creek and Grand Forks
fires are brought to mind ) .
3
Paulson Slide
Paulson road slide in Grand Forks. Crews working to build back up from below the road way! Our crews combined with quality sub‐contractors did an excellent job!
Paulson Slide Completion
Our Grand Forks team
worked really hard and got
the Paulson Slide all fixed
up! Road is looking really
good now. Good job to
everyone for your hard
work!
4
Emcon did it’s annual BC Children’s Hospital fund‐raiser's. Every area raised money by hos ng a BBQ, having a bake sale and some by simply asking for dona ons. We raised $2500.00, which Frank will match! So our grand total is $5000.00!
All our areas together
raised $2500.00!
Some of the raffle prizes from Emcon Corporates
BBQ.
The beau ful Unicorn cake was made by Fallon
Fosbery and the Rainbow ski les jar was made
by Vicki Geier!
The Cumberland admin staff with help from other
crews and their families held a bake sale every Monday
for a month.
5
Nanoose Bay Drain
Area 9 Kelly #2 Bridge
A small spring along Powder Point Road in Nanoose Bay in Area 2 has
been a bit of a problem for a few years, in that water was con nuously
pumping through the road making a wet and some mes icy spot. To
try and resolve the issue, a French drain was installed. Here are some
photos of the crews installing that drain.
Area 9 started off the season with a bridge replacement at Kelly 2. This
bridge is located in Fruitvale, on Webster Road. The crew was able to
complete the project one week ahead of the scheduled date. The users
now have a much more dependable crossing of the creek involved. We
did a similar bridge last fall which we were able to complete early as well.
6
Quesnel Windstorm
On May 4, 2017 15km south of Revelstoke on airport way . Snow slide came down the Greenslide avalanche chute.
Area 12
Crews in the Quesnel area were busy cleaning up
tree debris from the May 23rd, 2017 windstorm.
“ Looks like winter took a last swipe at our morale”
7
Emcon Supporting the Community
CURE Foundation On May 16, 2017 our areas par cipated
in the CURE founda ons Na onal Denim
Day! With a suggested dona on of $5.00
a person we raised $588.00!
Thank you to everyone who par cipated!
8
JR Financial Analyst
Corporate
Tyler Rigby
Admin—Ontario
Ali Boyko
Job Cos ng
SA 9
Pheigh Newton
New Arrivals!
Two members of our Emcon team welcomed grandsons!
Le : Rick wright’s grandson Wya Richard Krogstad. Weighing in at 10.2 lbs.!
Right: AEL’s Mike Davison’s grandson Michael Chase La er.
Congratula ons to the parents and Rick and Mike!
Welcome! Say Hello to Some New Names at Emcon
Benny Espesor—AP—SA 9 Darla Duguid—Admin—SA 18
Doug Durham—JR Road Sup—Ontario Danny LeCain—JR Road Sup—SA 2
Admin—Alaska Highway
Laani Trei
9
A er a long term career of service with Emcon, Holly has re red from the Grand Forks Office.
Holly began her career with Emcon in 1999, and over the past 18 years she has played a key role in the day to day success of the Grand Forks division.
We want to thank Holly for her many years with us and wish her the best on what re rement brings for her!
Retirement Announcement!
Mike Mintz elected to re re at the end of
April this year.
Mike began his career with Emcon as a Divi‐
sion Office Manager in Service Area 13 in
1993 and a er a brief exit came back to
the company as a Financial Analyst. In 1997
Mike accepted the role of Division Manager
for Service Area 11. Mike then came back
to the Corporate Office as Senior Financial
Analyst un l 2003, when he agreed to
move to Parksville as Opera ons Manager
for Service Area 2. Mike then succeeded in
to the Division Manager’s role for Service
Area 2 and 3.
We want to thank Mike for his many years
of dedicated service and wish him all the
best in re rement!
10
Training
Ryan Shaw, Leigh Hale, Daryl Williams
Chainsaw training in District of West Kelowna
Pierre presen ng Will Westwood with his Heavy Duty
Mechanic Trades Appren ceship cer ficate in Grand
Forks.
Mike Davidson put on a few traffic
control courses over the last few
months. This is from one of the
courses in Golden.
Emcon is always looking for possible employees to
join our group. If you know of someone pass their
name on or recommend that they contact us.
11
Area 12 Camp Creek Bridge
June 8th 2017 started out with the standard forecast from Environment Canada predic ng thunder showers later in the a ernoon for the Revel‐
stoke and surroundings areas. At approximately 5 pm, Gabriel Nava Lander started to receive reports of water and debris on the highway, just
West of Victor Lake (13km West of Revelstoke on the Trans‐Canada Highway). Gabe proceeded to the site and found the creek had increased flow
and had compromised the culvert, causing water and debris to flow onto the Highway. The decision was made to bring in some help. Gabe re‐
ceived another call that there was water and debris on the road down by Greenslide, approximately 12 km south of Revelstoke. Equipment was on
scene within the hour to deal with the plugged culverts.
We had thought the situa ons were under control un l a passing motorist advised Gabe that there was water star ng to flow across the Highway
at Camp Creek Bridge. A patrol was dispatched and found the creek, with the con nuing heavy rainfall in the area, had decided to bring a huge
amount of debris down from the upper slopes and had plugged the underside of the Camp Creek Bridge. The obstruc on under the Bridge caused
the creek to run over the Highway, crea ng a hazard and pu ng the traveling public at risk. With close consulta on with the MOTI Area Manager,
it was decided to close the Trans‐Canada Highway west of Revelstoke.
Calls were being placed to local contractors to supply equipment to assist in opening of the Highway. Thank you to Speers Construc on, Sure Haul
Transport, Kootenay Gradall, Kepex Trucking, Silver p Avia on and Revelstoke Equipment Rental for their immediate response to supply equip‐
ment and manpower.
The commitment and work done by our own employees was outstanding. There were many involved right from the beginning to the ongoing re‐
build of the creek bed with rip rap. We cannot forget the administra on staff in the Revelstoke office (Joy, Jessica and Lee Ann) for taking care of
the paper work and the tracking of all the costs that are associated with such an event. Also the mechanical staff in Revelstoke was on the money
when tasked with ge ng equipment serviced and ready for the massive cleanup that was required.
Let’s hope Mother Nature is kind to us for the rest of freshet season and we transi on into the summer months with ease.
12
Emcon Ontario
Recently Emcon par cipated in the Ear Falls Family Safety Night. The Ontario staff had an excellent display of equipment and promoted Emcon in the community in general.
.
Members of the Ontario
Crew take part in boom
truck training with their
sign truck.
13
Crushing Crews Keep Busy
Crushing crew
Dale, Taylor,
Jeremy, Kayla
Crushing crew
Jordan, Seamus, Aidan, Dean
Crushing crew returning on
the Revelstoke ferry.
Crew all set up at Weldon Pit
Wells B.C.
Crushing has started in the Dryden, Ontario area,
producing 9.5 mm spec winter sand.
14
Crews in Area 9 responded to emergency work on the
weekend of May 5‐7, 2017. Water was a raging torrent of
water that brought large trees and debris down the rivers.
At Carmi, there were over 100 trees stuck on the piers from
bank to bank.
We spent several hours on the City of Grand Forks Bridge
with the same scenario, large trees against bridge piers. We
managed to release 90% of this one un l dark took over.
Crews returned the next morning to complete the job.
The Mid Island Bridge Crew repaired
one of the concrete corner posts at
French Creek Bridge on Highway 19A .
The damage was done by a recent
motor vehicle incident.
The Mid Island Bridge Crew, along with MOTI
and McLehanney Engineering department,
performed an inspec on on # 0436 French
Creek Bridge on Highway19A. The crew was
on site performing miscellaneous repairs and
detailed inspec on of the 70 year old bridge.
Bridge Crews
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Alaska Highway
Our Alaska Hwy crews have been busy stocking up their sheds with sand for our winter opera ons.
Summer opera ons are in full swing on the Alaska Highway ! Seal coa ng or bituminous surface treatment. At Bolugie Creek Hill in the Fort Nelson contact area.
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Road & Bridge Maintenance Contractors
105—1121 McFarlane Way Merri , BC V1K 1B9
Phone : 250‐378‐4176 Fax: 250‐378‐4106
www.emconservices.ca