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Excavation
December 20, 2019 0 Comments By Penny Fidelak Civil Infrastructure, Commercial Landscaping, Excavation, Featured, Landscaping Services ,

Excavation & Control Measures

Excavation is the process of moving material with equipment, tools, or explosives.
Excavation is generally classified by the type of material that is being removed from the ground, and can also be classified by its purpose. A few types of excavation may include Top Soil, Rock, and Earth; whereas, the purpose can be for roadway, stripping, and bridge excavation. The type of material, and the purpose of excavation can decide on which piece of equipment you will need to use to start and complete the project.

 

Types of Equipment  

Construction Equipment can vary per job and company, but a few options available are the Backhoe, Excavator, Earthmover, Mini Track Loader, and Skid Steer. The piece of equipment that we will discuss in more detail will be the Excavator.

 

 

Excavator

Excavation

An Excavator is hydraulically operated, that consists of a boom, dipper, bucket and a cab on a rotating platform. The usage of the excavator is of course for excavating, but also for material handling, brush cutting with hydraulic saw and

mower attachments, mining, demolition, and much more. Depending on the type and size of the job, will distinguish which size of machine you will actually need. An excavator can come as small as a 6-ton machine that is used for the smallest jobs, and generally up to a 90-ton machine. Different excavator sizes may come with different training and licensing, but one thing that will always stay the same, is safety.

 

Safety

Individuals that aren’t experienced in the construction industry, tend to think that safety only refers to machines, workers, and traffic, as this is the only thing they really notice while passing through a construction site. What many people don’t realize, is that there is a huge safety issue underground. A big safety concern that construction workers face, would be the underground utilities. Gas, Hydro, and other underground services are major safety concerns, and without being prepared and experienced, a service can be hit while excavating. The reason why hitting an underground service may be an issue, would be because it will cause an outage to the area which will cost the contractor a fortune, may cause an injury, and could also result in death. Eco Groundworks holds a perfect record for not hitting any underground services, as we are well trained and prepared before entering any job site. The safety committee at Eco Groundworks takes all hazards into consideration, and will train and sign off all workers before any job is done year-round. Not all hazards can be avoided on a work site, but every hazard can be controlled.

 

Control Measures

As previously mentioned, sizes of jobs can vary drastically around the world, which means sizes of the excavation can vary as well. Control measure need to be set in place

Excavation control measures

depending on the size of excavation.  It is important to protect yourself and the people around, so protective systems shall be made. Trench boxes are a common choice, as it shields the workers from the material, protecting them from any potential cave-ins. It is not always an easy task to design a protection system, as many factors need to be considered: depth of cut, soil classification, water content of soil, weather or climate changes, etc. It is important to be prepared before digging, and to have safety measures set in place if and when needed.

 

As you can see, excavation is not as simple as just digging a hole, many factors come into play. It is important to be educated and prepared for all tasks, and Eco Groundworks follows this, before entering any site. Eco Groundworks will carry this procedure forward, throughout the 2020 year on all projects, such as the Ardrossan Parking Lot Expansion. Eco Groundworks believes that all individuals involved in any project, no matter how big or small it is, should be comfortable and fully understand what the work is, and how it will be completed.

 

Contact Eco Groundworks for a free quote on your Civil Infrastructure and/or Commercial Landscaping needs at 780-757-0644.

historical building demolition
December 17, 2019 0 Comments By Penny Fidelak Civil Infrastructure, Demolition, Featured ,

Historical Building Demolition and Recycling

In today’s world with ageing cities and infrastructure, many municipalities and government bodies are putting historical restrictions on properties often prohibiting historical building demolition or requiring the original materials be reused in the new development. Eco Groundworks is capable of working with you from the outset and complete demolition both complete and selective. Many times, we are able to reuse original cobble stone blocks in new walk ways or features, we have also seen projects that reuse the existing brick in the design of features like fountains or archways.

historical buildings whyte ave

To be successful in this a plan must be set out at the beginning, before the existing structure is touched to ensure our project management team sets out the right demolition plan to ensure the recovery of the historical materials required to rebuild the new development, some things to think about is how much of each particular product is needed in the new development, where the product is going to be stored after being removed and before it goes into the new structure. As many of these historical buildings are usually located in the down town core where space is limited there is typically an added cost of offsite storage, transport to and from the site must also be incorporated when determining the feasibility. There are many technologies in the demolition world from breakers, shears, jaws etc., but sadly when trying to recover the products for future use it typically must be done through more traditional ways of manual labour to ensure there is minimal damage, allowing the product to be reused. After the selective demolition is completed by hand typically the larger equipment such as excavators with shears jaws or breakers will come in as well as a bucket with a thumb and will sort all the mass demolition materials to send off the proper recycling facilities. Usually you will see all the metals, wood, masonry, concrete, glass, etc. removed many of these products can be reused in other places. For example, concrete is usually crushed and can many times be used on the same site for the base material of the roads, parking lots or concrete surfaces for the new development. By properly sorting demolition products costs to the client can be kept to a minimum as the recycled supplies often will generate a revenue for the demolition contractor.

Incorporating the historically significant items into the new developments landscape is often overlooked but being outside this is the area most people will see the products, it is important to engage the landscape architect or the landscape contractors in house design or project management team at any early stage to ensure flow with the remaining aspect of the job, popular items to reuse would be stone for walkways, borders, features like fountains etc. Metal railings and old antique site furnishings such as benches can also often be restored and reused. Historical items such as trees can often be protected or relocated on site with success to not lose the mature look. Eco Groundworks loves working on challenging projects like these, from demolition concept through to final landscape restoration.

January 19, 2017 0 Comments By Penny Fidelak Civil Infrastructure, Featured, Hydro Seeding , ,

What Is Hydro Seeding?

Hydro seeding was invented in the 1940s, while the first hydro seeder was invented in 1953. The hydro seeding process has been steadily growing in popularity over the years, and is now rated the number one option for erosion control methods. The purpose of hydro seeding is to control erosion, and increase vegetation growth. Of course, there’s other ways to get this done, such as; sodding, broadcast seeding, sowing dry seed, etc. but none are quite comparable and don’t come close to reaching it’s intended purpose like hydro seeding does. The ability to mix the material with water, and spray the product out all in one shot, makes this process the best and most efficient option for all of your erosion control and vegetation needs.

 

How hydro seeding works is fairly simple, but can be quite interesting. The process is a mixture of several elements combined with water, and of course it being done in a piece of equipment, like the hydro seeder itself. The ingredients vary depending on the type of desired result, but generally include a mixture of grass seeds, a fibrous mulch material, and sometimes fertilizer and/or a binding tackifier. The mulch acts as a blanket, that maintains the moister content, allowing the seed to stay moist and grow quicker. Fertilizer will promote seed germination, which can easily be mixed in with the ingredients, but it’s not always used. Tackifier will also be added at times, with the purpose to help bind the slurry mixture to the soil; slurry is what you call when several elements are mixed together with water. The tackifier is typically used in area where erosion could be a concern, such as slopes or areas that may experience wind or water erosion. Basic applications will include water, seed and mulch only, and is most common in residential and basic commercial applications.

 

Hydro seeding is quite unique, as the sky is literally the limit. As previously mentioned, hydro seeding slurry is generally transported in a tank, either trunk-mounted or trailer-mounted, but that’s not the only option. In some cases, areas are so large that helicopters have been used to displace the slurry. In cases like this, imagine having to use the traditional methods, how would that work? Depending on the size of the job, it would be virtually impossible to complete in a respectable time. Time is money in this industry, and with hydro seeding, no job is too big or too difficult to tackle, which makes time no issue.
Make the transition now – buy yourself a hydro seeder, and get the job done the most efficient way.

Sanitary Sewers
November 9, 2016 0 Comments By Penny Fidelak Featured, Piping, Underground Civil Infrastructure , , , ,

Sanitary Sewers

What is a sanitary sewer? A sanitary sewer is a network of pipes (trenches were used centuries ago) that are used to transport human excrement and grey water to be disposed of or to be taken to facilities so that treatment can take place. Sanitary sewers have been in existence for many years, however many years ago they did not used to be quite as intricate and advanced as our modern-day sanitary sewer systems are. Imagine you are a normal person walking around your town in Europe during the 16th century just enjoying your day like any other, there are nice smells in the air from the market you just passed through, then something foul floats into your nose, the smell of human waste. The reason for this smell is due to the sewer system your town has. Along the sides of the road you are walking there are trenches dug, and in these trenches flows the human waste you can smell in the air. Plumbing in houses did not exist at the time, so the way waste would arrive at these trenches was by getting thrown out the window. It was customary for buckets of human excrement and water being mixed and then getting thrown out the window to be disposed of. This excrement slurry naturally never all made it into the trenches, with much of the excrement still laying in the streets where you would walk and children would play. This early form of sewer was extremely un-sanitary and led to many people getting sick. One of the many reasons for the outbreak of the black plague which destroyed much of Europe, was this terribly un-sanitary sewer system.

 

During the many centuries, sanitary sewers have gone through a very drastic evolution. Modern day sewers are now no longer out in the open above ground, but instead they are enclosed systems that are buried beneath the ground. New modern-day sewers are typically built using pipes made of a durable plastic called Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) which are placed in the ground to form a large network of pipes going every which way to transport human waste. These pipes are precisely sloped in such a way that will allow gravity to carry waste through the pipes and on to a treatment facility.  Large concrete structures called manholes are placed throughout these pipe networks, which allow for access from ground level to the pipe. These manholes are necessary so that sanitary sewers can be inspected and also maintained.

 

The construction of a sanitary sewer is absolutely essential in today’s age. The first step in the construction of any new building, be it commercial or residential, is the creation of a sanitary sewer service that will be able to hold all the refuse. Nothing can get built without this very important first step.

Stack o f PVC Pipe
November 3, 2016 0 Comments By Penny Fidelak Civil Infrastructure, Piping ,

PVC Piping

What is PVC piping? PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) pipe is pipe made of a special type of plastic that has a very high strength and durability. This special plastic pipe can quite commonly be found used in new construction for sanitary sewers to transport human waste, storm sewers to transport rain water away from a site, and also used for water mains to provide a water supply to new buildings. The reason that PVC pipe can be found used for so many different applications is not just because of its high strength and durability, but also because the pipe is very cost friendly and has a very high life span of around 100 years.

pvc pipe

PVC was discovered entirely by accident in 1872 by a German chemist named Eugene Baumann. The chemist had left a flask containing vinyl chloride (a colorless gas) sitting exposed to sunlight, and when he next saw the flask small white pieces of solid material had popped up inside the flask. Unfortunately this early version of PVC was very difficult to work with and was not able to be used for commercial products. In 1926 this finally changed when a man named Waldo Semon invented a new method of producing PVC by mixing it with several different additives. This new method of production made the material much more flexible which in turn made the material much easier to work with, and not too long after, PVC started to gain popularity in commercial use. In 1932 the first tubes were made from PVC and then 3 years later in 1935 the first pipes were made from PVC. In 1936 the very first PVC pipes were installed in Germany to be used as water supply for residential drinking water. Many of these pipes are still in use today due to the long life span of PVC.

 

pvc pipe

Another one of the many benefits of PVC pipe is that it is very easy to install due to how lightweight this type of pipe is. Unlike other pipe material such as pre-cast concrete, which would have to be hooked up to a machine like an excavator and placed mechanically due to weight, PVC pipe is light enough that it can be carried and placed in a trench by hand. When being installed PVC pipe is easy to assemble together thanks to the pipe having 2 different ends. The one end matches the typical diameter of the pipe, while the other end is belled to allow for easy insertion of the next pipe. With how lightweight PVC pipe is mixed with the easy insertion, this type of pipe can be placed in the ground with a very high efficiency. It is possible for a single crew to place well over a hundred meters of pipe in a single day.

 

 

Here at Eco Groundworks we’re no stranger to installing PVC pipes. We’ve had the joy of putting in several new sanitary sewers, storm sewers, and water mains, which were all built using PVC pipe. As our civil infrastructure department continues to expand, we will continuously place meter upon meter of PVC pipe.

parking lot expansion
September 6, 2016 0 Comments By Penny Fidelak Civil Infrastructure, Commercial Landscaping, Featured, Underground Civil Infrastructure , ,

Parking Lot Expansions

parking lot expansion

A Parking Lot Expansion seems like a very easy job, and in fact it can be; however, sometimes it can be quite a complex job, with multiple tasks. An expansion could need removals of structures, installation and placement of structures, and of course final asphalt placement and landscaping. A job that needs all of the mentioned tasks, is the Ardrossan Parking Lot Expansion. This job is starting in the first quarter of 2020, and has been rewarded to Eco Groundworks. The purpose of the project is to take the existing parking lot across from the Ardrossan Complex, and build it into one that is 4 times the size. The job has a handful of tasks, but the ones mentioned, will be explained into more detail.

 

The Ardrossan Parking Lot Expansion has a couple concrete structures to remove, and they go as followed: manhole catch basin, and an Inlet. The abandoned manhole will need to be removed, as a trail is going to be placed in its current position, and to be installed in multiple locations in the later process.  The catch basin will be removed, as a new manhole will be placed, along with new PVC pipe.  The new manhole will take in all the storm water from the parking lot that drains into the other catch basins and manholes, that Eco Groundworks will also install. The last structural removal, is the Inlet that is currently in the position of where the new parking lot entrance will be.

 

parking lot expansion

Eco Groundworks structural installations will consist of a culvert, inlet, catch basins and manholes. A total of 3 1200mm manholes will be placed, with two being directly in the parking lot that are collecting water from the catch basins, and the other collecting water from the two. Due to the elevations and design, the catch basins will be placed to the south of the two manholes, and will be 900mm in diameter. The inlet will be directing water into the swales, which will be sending the water south to the culvert, leading to the swamp. The final asphalt will be placed once everything is removed, installed, poured, and backfilled, where landscaping will then follow. Eco Groundworks is well known for their landscaping, and in this case, they will be planting trees, shrubs, and other plant life.