Kicking Horse Canyon Phase 4
Golden, BC, Canada
Best Project
Sent by: Parsons Corp.
Owner: Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of British Columbia
Leading design company | Civil and structural engineer: Parsons Corp.
General contractor: Builders of Kicking Horse Canyon (Aecon, Parsons, Emil Anderson)
Geotechnical engineer: Thurber Engineering Ltd.
Geotechnical and viaduct engineer: Basis Engineering Ltd.
A beautiful but treacherous stretch of two-lane highway in the eastern forests of British Columbia has been smoothed out thanks to innovative solutions to build four bridges, nine viaducts and seven earth walls on steep slopes. The $331 million contract to realign and upgrade a 4.8-kilometre section of Trans-Canada Highway 1 to four lanes from two eliminated 13 hairpin curves and protected drivers from rockfalls and avalanches.
Detailed geotechnical drilling resulted in significant design changes from the pre-award concept, including the replacement of earth walls with viaducts. “The original thought was to do a lot more walls,” says Michael Lorimer, vice president of major road, bridge and tunnel projects at Transportation Investment Corp., a provincial entity. “At the end of the day, the team came up with a design that could be repeated throughout the job. We ended up with a better long-term product.”
Despite harsh winters and constant coordination with an adjacent railroad, the project was completed on time and on budget. The highway is a vital corridor for commercial traffic from Western Canada to the Port of Vancouver, as well as recreational traffic to several Canadian national parks.
“Innovative construction methods such as temporary crane platforms on the mountainside and side-launching of bridge girders during erection required meticulous planning and coordination,” adds Brian Witte, vice president of construction engineering for Parsons Corp.
