As the newest member of the Kamloops community, Parsons believes in making meaningful contributions that resonate with our core values of innovation, integrity, and inclusion. This belief was brought to life over the weekend of June 1-2, as we had the privilege of supporting an event that lies at the heart of these values—the local 3×3 Hoops in the Loops Tournament, which supports the KidSport Foundation.

For those unfamiliar, KidSport is a remarkable organization dedicated to ensuring all kids can participate in organized sports by helping to remove financial barriers. As a volunteer high school basketball coach and an advocate for youth athletics, I have witnessed firsthand how sports can transform lives by fostering teamwork, discipline, and resilience among young people. This event was not just an opportunity for Parsons to support a great cause; it was also a chance for me to blend my personal passion with our company’s mission to make a difference in our new home.

The tournament brought together kids I have had the honor of coaching in various capacities. Some I used to coach, some I currently coach, and even future stars I look forward to coaching. Seeing their energy and enthusiasm on the court was nothing short of inspiring. It was a vivid reminder of why we do what we do both on and off the court. Events like these do not happen without sponsors and volunteers.

Parsons proudly contributed by providing trophies and basketballs for the winners in every division—a small token to celebrate their hard work and achievements. More importantly, through our contribution to KidSport, we helped ensure that more children will have access to sports programs that can change their lives for the better.

The weekend was filled with memorable moments—from breathtaking buzzer-beaters to heartfelt displays of sportsmanship. But beyond these moments of triumph were stories unfolding off-court: stories of communities coming together, barriers being broken down, and children finding joy in every dribble towards their dreams.

In addition to the joy and excitement on the court, the 3×3 Hoops in the Loops Tournament provided a unique opportunity for Parsons Kamloops to engage with our community in a more personal, neutral setting. As we cheered on the young athletes, I found myself amidst a diverse group of parents, local business owners, and community leaders—all gathered to support their children and this noble cause. These interactions were not just about watching the game; they became invaluable moments of connection.

Reflecting on this experience reaffirms my belief in the power of community engagement. At Parsons, we’re not just building projects; we’re committed to building stronger communities where every child has the opportunity to shine—both on and off the field (or court in this case!).

As we continue settling into Kamloops, events like this serve as important milestones in our journey. They remind us that while infrastructure builds cities, it is community spirit that builds homes. We are honored to be part of this vibrant community and excited about forging more connections through meaningful initiatives like this one.

I look forward to being part of more opportunities like this, it is clear that events supporting great causes like KidSport aren’t just about fundraising or sports; they’re vital platforms for building relationships within our community. These interactions remind us of the importance of being present—not only as professionals but as individuals passionate about making a positive impact where we live and work.

To everyone who participated or supported this wonderful cause—thank you! Your enthusiasm makes events like these possible and underscores what can be achieved when we come together for a common purpose.

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The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) provides regional health care services to the greater Ottawa and Eastern Ontario region, Western Quebec and Nunavut, with a vision, “to provide each patient with the world-class care, exceptional service and compassion we would want for our loved ones”. To this end, TOH has embarked on a notable hospital investment plan and has retained Parsons directly to assist in realizing this vision.

Located on the heart of Canada’s Capital on 20 hectare (50acre) site, TOH is developing a new regional health care centre that in their own words will include, “a new state-of-the-art health care facility and academic research centre that will support our leadership to reshape the future of health care, train the next generation of health care workers and expand our support for the discovery of new life-changing research”. The site is served by the City of Ottawa’s light rail transit (LRT) line for which our team had led the early planning and design of for the City. The site is also located on federal leased lands surrounded by Dow’s Lake, the historic Rideau Canal, and the Central Experimental Farm. The campus will host 6,000 workers employed in health care delivery, research, and associated activities. The new hospital will feature highly specialized inpatient, outpatient, emergency, and trauma services, and provide more than 600 beds to the hospital’s portfolio.

Our team is providing fundamental urban planning, environmental planning, transportation planning, and civil engineering services to assist in TOH, their management consultants (GBA), and their architects (HDR) in the development of this site. We completed the project’s early development feasibility studies that examined urban planning policies, on-site environmental conditions, cultural heritage, transportation networks, and municipal servicing requirements. Next we played a key role on the project’s master planning team, and helped evolve the physical plan. We then assisted the hospital to navigate the myriad of municipal, provincial, and federal approvals required to move towards project implementation.

Now that a constructor has been retained by TOH, we are currently providing detailed engineering designs for on and off-site roadways and municipal services, and we are providing compliance auditing, site inspections, and engineering services during construction. Construction on an early phase broke ground in 2023, and the main hospital itself with be under construction in 2025.

This project showcases the broad, multi-disciplinary service offerings of our team that has been based in Ottawa since 1955. Our relationships with all levels of government, and our experiences on thousands of planning and engineering assignments in the Capital were harnessed by the hospital to help advance their once-in-a-generation $2.8 B investment plan. We are so very proud to be supporting TOH every step of the way towards project completion in 2028.

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Construction is progressing upward and onwards on the Gordie Howe International Bridge project, and our team, as Owner’s Engineer, is diligently overseeing every step along the way.

Let’s have a look at the remarkable series of milestones that were achieved these past couple of years. Foundations for the bridge were completed and emerged from the ground in the spring of 2020 when both sides of the USA-Canada border were locking down and the teams were learning how to continue operations during a global pandemic. Then began the work on the giant towers, 220m tall, made of cast-in-place reinforced concrete. Much of the design and construction of the towers is driven by a key technical requirement defined by our subject matter experts: 125 years of service life, the longest service life required in comparable bridge procurements. With topics such as climate change, sustainability, and circular economy being top of mind in our industry, maximizing service life appears imperative, and the durability study conducted by our experts revealed that providing a service life of 125 years instead of 75 years had little impact on cost.

Canada Day – July 1, 2020, marked the first footing concrete placement, 1000 cubic meters, to form the first lift of the giant tower footings. Exactly 6 months later, right before the crews went home for the Holidays, the last bit of the footings’ concrete was placed, totaling 7600 cubic meters for both towers.

The year 2021 kicked off with the teams’ focus shifted to the tower leg construction. With repetitive operations like tower leg lifts, construction started to accelerate. Geometry control was one of the most challenging aspects of building the legs. The design-builder worked against gravity by different means such as building the legs with a camber and using temporary cross beams. In July 2021, just after the project celebrated 1000 days since the start of construction, another important milestone was reached: Tie-beam construction was completed. This is one of the most critical structural elements for this bridge, balancing the horizontal reaction forces coming from the inclined tower legs. The designer elected to position the tie-beam at grade level, connecting the footings, and to post-tension the element.

So what does it mean for the Owner’s Engineer team when an activity performed by the design-builder is of higher complexity or is more critical? It means risk is higher and therefore our team performs a more detailed oversight exercise. For example, for the high-risk tie-beam post-tensioning work, our team performed a mirrored QC. And for tower geometry control, our survey sub-consultant independently checked tower leg geometry at every lift. The P3 partners focused on decreasing cycle times of the tower leg erection, and by spring 2022, when the legs reached their full height of 135m above ground, the cycle time was as low as one lift per week. Our oversight role was key to promote continuous improvement of the works, helping to ensure that optimizing the tower erection cycle times was not sacrificing quality.

Now is officially the season of steel on the Gordie Howe International Bridge! The very first deck element was lifted into place on March 29, 2022, on the Canadian side. Due to the Bridge site’s proximity to Zug island’s industrial area, the exposure condition of the exterior metallic surfaces is classified as a very high corrosivity environment (ISO 9223 C5). The visible white finish of the structural steel consists mainly of a 3-coat paint system, meant to last 40 years in this environment, as required by our subject matter experts. On July 27, 2022, the first steel anchor boxes, which are fabricated elements that will secure the cables at the tower, were placed on the US tower.

Overall completion of the bridge and opening is planned for the end of 2024. Once complete, the Gordie Howe cable-stayed bridge will have a clear span of 853 meters over the Detroit River, giving it the longest main span of any cable-stayed bridge in North America.

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Built in 1968, the Jaipur Bridge, named after Calgary’s sister city of Jaipur, is one of the primary south connections between the Eau Claire area and Prince’s Island Park. After more than 50 years in service, the bridge reached the end of its service life and no longer met the current demands. As a prequalified firm under the “new bridge” category, the City of Calgary chose our team to provide engineering services to replace the pedestrian bridge.

This project scope includes options evaluation, design, tender preparation, and construction services in replacing the existing Jaipur Bridge. The new crossing will be flood resilient, enhance the natural environment, provide better hydraulic conductivity of the lagoon channel, and integrate with the vibrant upgrades planned for the neighborhood – detailed in the Eau Claire Public Realm Plan.

Preliminary work involved environmental studies and permit applications, hydraulic and geotechnical studies, utility coordination, stormwater and drainage assessment, constructability of the structure, surveying of the area and existing structures, and class 3 cost estimate. The work required detailed coordination with other active and future projects adjacent to the proposed site to create an effective area-wide design to provide a continuous, safe, and accessible riverfront, promoting year-round activities. The preliminary phase for the Jaipur replacement bridge involved developing three working concepts, which are vetted with project stakeholders to form the recommended solution.

The aesthetic is one of the key design considerations for Jaipur Bridge as it is located in Downtown Calgary and is one of the landmarks in the area. The new Jaipur Bridge is a 6m wide, 60m long three-span bridge promoting the natural look of the park using various building materials such as weathering steel, stainless steel, wood, and textured concrete wearing surface. The unique bridge rail combined with a ledge provides spectacular light patterns to the bridge deck when night falls. Innovatively using LED light on the bridge is not the only sustainable design component. The functionality enhancement of the Eau Claire Lagoon drainage system also reflects the sustainability concept. Additionally, we provided constructability plans to minimize environmental and social impacts during construction, which will enhance social sustainability for the bridge construction.

COVID-19 posed challenges to the construction industry to maintain the supply chain and maintain additional health and safety protocols during 2020, when we completed the Jaipur Bridge design started tendering and construction. Hence, structural steel and concrete material and qualified personnel may not be available, and it may also lead to higher material costs. To eliminate this uncertainty, during design and before tender, our team proactively reached out to industry representatives of steel and concrete suppliers, and internal project PMs for their experience with material availability and price during this time. The proactive outreach helped us find the available materials with reasonable costs and kept within the project construction budget.

After overcoming challenges via design and tendering phases, we delivered aesthetic, functional, and sustainable bridge design; now, the bridge has begun construction and is scheduled to open in June 2022, just before Canada Day.

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We were honored at the prestigious 2021 Ontario Engineering Project Awards held by the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies Ontario this year. Our Major Mackenzie Drive “Schedule C” Municipal Class Environmental Assessment, Preliminary and Detail Design from Highway 400 to Jane Street with the Regional Municipality of York won the Award of Distinction for the most outstanding project in the Project Management Category.

This category is defined as all engineering projects related to construction management, construction quality control, contract administration, design management, procurement management, project control, risk management, related management services, and value engineering.

The Major Mackenzie Drive corridor is situated along with the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct Area, which includes the new Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital. The design for improvements to Major Mackenzie Drive was delivered by our team under an expedited schedule and enhanced multi-modal connectivity to this critical destination in York Region. Key design elements include:

• Widening the corridor to an urban cross-section
• New Active Transportation facilities
• Landscaping enhancements
• Drainage improvements
• Structure widenings
• Electrical improvements

The design developed by our team and York Region during the Environmental Assessment and Design stage will transform the corridor into a full urban cross-section with additional lane capacity, a new Multi-Use Pathway, and high-quality streetscaping.

About ACEC-Ontario and OEPA

ACEC-Ontario represents the interests of over 130 consulting engineering firms that employ over 21,000 Ontarians. Accumulated gross revenues of consulting engineering firms across the country contribute more than $28 billion to the Canadian economy annually. For the past 46 years, ACEC-Ontario has been advocating for the advancement of the business interests of their membership and promoting the value of their contributions to the social, environmental, and economic welfare of Ontario.  ACEC-Ontario created the OEPA program to recognize the dedication and innovation advancements of their member firms within the engineering industry.

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Seeking to improve the efficiency of border crossings at the busiest trade corridor between Canada and the United States, the governments of Canada and Michigan set about to build a new bridge. The proposed project, the Gordie Howe International Bridge, is designed to bypass city streets to reduce congestion and improve the flow of commercial and private traffic between the two countries.

Led by Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA), a Canadian Crown corporation, the Gordie Howe International Bridge project is a $CA5.7 billion public-private partnership (P3) undertaking which includes designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining the new international crossing between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan.

We have been involved with the project since 2015, serving phases one and two as a general engineering consultant and helping support the P3 procurement process through financial close. As the project entered phase three, Parsons was awarded the role of owners engineer, providing technical expertise to the WDBA to ensure that design and build work is done according to the project agreement.

“The Gordie Howe International Bridge is a massive undertaking, including not only an 853-meter cable-stay main span bridge over the Detroit River, but customs inspection plazas on both sides of the border, a toll plaza, a full interchange with I-75 in Michigan, and local road improvements in Windsor and Detroit. When complete, it will be the longest cable-stay main span bridge in North America and will completely change the landscape and mobility of the communities it serves.” – Bruce Campbell, Project Manager

The six-lane bridge will include a state-of-the-art tolling system able to process a high volume of vehicles, making it faster and easier for commercial and private vehicles to get through toll stations. Intelligent Transportation Solutions (ITS) will provide lane control signs, which will be connected on both sides of the border to allow easy exchange of information so each agency can provide up-to-date information on travel crossing times to users.

A critical element of the project is maintaining and improving the safety of local roadways, including ensuring the cities of Windsor and Detroit remain connected for not only cars but pedestrians and cyclists as well. On the U.S. side of the bridge, five existing pedestrian bridges crossing I-75 will all be replaced to maintain connectivity, and a multi-purpose path for cyclists and pedestrians will be extended across the border.

Finally, the iconic bridge is designed to last 125 years with regular maintenance. It is being built to withstand significant traffic, as well as regular de-icing, and Parsons’ work as owner engineer is helping ensure the durability requirements are met.

We are continuing to work on the third phase of the project as design and construction get underway. The effort is expected to be completed in 2024, after eight years of work.  

For more information on the project, please visit www.GordieHoweInternationalBridge.com

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From 1948 to 2004, owners of the Giant Mine in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, extracted more than 7 million ounces of gold. These riches left behind significant contamination – as much as 237,000 tons of arsenic trioxide dust, as well as large amounts of arsenic contaminated tailings and soil. What began as one of Canada’s richest gold mines soon became one of the largest environmental remediation projects in the country.

Parsons has worked with the Government of Canada to contain and manage the arsenic trioxide and protect human and environmental health and safety at the site since 2013. As part of the Site Stabilization Plan, the company removed more than 10,000 tons of arsenic trioxide from the mine’s roaster complex.

As contaminated materials were removed, remaining building components were sprayed with a glue sealant, making the highly contaminated area safe until further remediation efforts could be completed.

The final remediation phase will include continuing efforts to contain the remaining arsenic trioxide at the site through an innovative freezing system. Using thermosyphons, heat will be extracted from the ground using the passive heating and cooling cycle of carbon dioxide.

The chambers holding the contaminants will be surrounded by thermosyphons, freezing the ground to create a frozen shell that prevents contaminant release into the surrounding groundwater.

Thermosyphons are typically used to stabilize building foundations in the far North, but the project team will be utilizing this technology in a novel way – to freeze and secure thousands of tons of arsenic trioxide,” said Greg Sutherland, Vice President, Canada Environmental, Parsons. “The project team is anticipated to use approximately 700 thermosyphons to contain all 15 chambers, far more than the two or three used on most foundation stability projects.”

The remediation project also includes covering arsenic contaminated tailings; backfilling several open pits; construction and operation of a water treatment plant; and excavation and relocation of over one million cubic meters of contaminated soil.

When the project is completed, Giant Mine will undergo an adaptive management phase to verify that all objectives – including safeguarding the health and safety of the people and the surrounding environment – are met. An additional operations, surveillance and maintenance stage will include ongoing water treatment and monitoring at the site.

Learn more about our remediation work:                                                 Giant Mine Contract Extension | Giant Mine Project Phase 1 

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