Banister was selected to participate in this historic project which involves construction of approximately 900 km of NPS 36 new mainline pipe spanning from Strathcona County (near Edmonton, Ab) to Burnaby BC that will increase the pipeline capacity from 300,000 bbls per day to 890,000 bbls per day. The project will allow Canadian incremental oil supplies to reach global markets.
Banister’s portion of the scope includes construction of approximately 74 km of 914 mm (NPS 36) OD pipeline near Clearwater BC, starting just North of Vavenby to the Darfield pump station, including installation of 7 prefabricated valve assemblies and an external leak detection system along the entire length of the line. Banister worked closely with local Indigenous groups and local communities to ensure a broad level of engagement and benefits accrue to these key partners.
The project involved extensive planning and coordination of resources prior to construction to ensure that all regulatory commitments were incorporated into our execution plans. The project parallels highway 5, a critical transportation route that services North East British Columbia. This presented some unique challenges to ensure safe access to the right of way while attempting to cause minimal disruptions to traffic flow along this well-travelled route. Extensive planning and coordination was required to ensure the proper controls and traffic control personnel were in place during the entire construction period.
This project also involved some complicated pipelining techniques to accommodate unique challenges including mountainous terrain, rock formations, narrow right of way in urban areas and adjacent buried facilities. Banister is proud to be a part of the execution team that included many of the major pipeline Constructors in Canada who came together collectively to leave a lasting legacy that will benefit many generations to come.
The McLeod River North Project consisted of two separate sections of NPS 48 pipe; the Hornbeck Section – 22.5km of NPS 48 pipe, and the Bronson Section – 11.8km of NPS 48 pipe approximately both located North of Hinton AB. Within these sections we completed trenchless HDD crossings of the Athabasca and Wild Hay rivers and a DPI crossing of the Burland River. This project represented unique challenges due to the remote nature of the work and difficult mountainous terrain experienced along the right of way.
Further compounding construction activities was the abnormally wet weather conditions experienced throughout the summer and fall seasons, which necessitated completing a significant portion of the work in the winter. Banister accepted the challenge and persevered to complete a portion of the project early to satisfy the commercial commitments of our client.
A significant portion of this project was executed within three Key Wildlife Biodiversity Zones (KWBZ) covering approximately 8.1km of the right of way presenting some unique scheduling and execution challenges to avoid restricted access periods within these sensitive areas.
The King’s North Connection project located in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) starting just North of the Pearson International Airport and terminating near the town of Bolton involved constructing 11 km of NPS 36 pipeline and completing 5 horizontal directions drills (HDDs) through congested urban areas, major highways, high-voltage transmission corridors and numerous environmentally sensitive areas. The route ran adjacent to Highway 427 and crossed Highway 407 and Highway 7. Safety of the workers and public were a constant focus throughout the project due to construction in densely populated urban areas.
Preservation of the highly sensitive Western Chorus frog and brown myotis bat habitat were of primary importance. Hundreds of meters of barriers or “frog fences” were installed to limit the migration of the Western Chorus frogs into the area, and dozens of ‘bat houses’ were erected along the right of way to re-establish nesting sites to compensate for some trees that needed to be removed during construction. A local community group volunteered to build the bat houses for Banister’s construction team to install along the right of way.
The Banister project team met the challenge of striking a balance between the interests of burgeoning commercial and residential development in the area and installation of the pipeline. Most of our access points to the right of way were on busy roadways necessitating a comprehensive traffic management strategy and traffic controls throughout construction. Banister is proud to have been selected to construct this essential link from key U.S. markets and the Dawn storage hub to growing markets in the GTA and surrounding areas.
This natural gas mainline project represents urban pipelining at its best. Banister was called upon to install this large diameter natural gas pipeline near the town of Milton. Safety of the public and surrounding infrastructure were of paramount importance. Over 4.5 km of temporary safety fencing was erected to ensure that no one from the community would be exposed to hazards associated with the construction site. A micro tunnel was used for the first time by Banister to navigate across highway 25 and 16 mile creek in the town of Milton.
To install pipe across Isley Lk Banister installed a coffer dam then pumped out the water to allow mainline activities to proceed. An innovative approach to handling a difficult crossing. Another unique challenge involved crossing the Carlisle Golf course in the middle of golf season. The pipeline traversed across three fairways which were taken out of service and returned to service within 3 weeks.
The project required Banister to work closely with the client to minimize disruptions to the town of Milton and surrounding areas. At the end of the day the project was a huge success and will assist Union Gas in meeting an increased demand for natural gas in Ontario, Quebec and other eastern market areas.
The Pelican Lake project was constructed by Banister in the winter season of 2017 and involved installation of 56 km of NPS 30 natural gas pipeline and 3 horizontal directional drills (HDDs).
Originally the project was scheduled to being in November 2016 though due to delays construction did not commence until January 2017. This presented some unique challenges for the project team since cold weather and frozen ground conditions were required to access a majority of the right of way. As spring was fast approaching and site conditions were deteriorating the Banister project team employed a variety of mitigation measures to maintain access to the project while minimizing the environmental impact. Though some of our construction equipment was stranded on site for the summer season in the end the project was completed on time and project team received numerous accolades from our client.
Constant changes to the schedule and manpower plan were required to keep the project on track despite the early spring break up and deteriorating site conditions. A truly exceptional feat for all involved to complete this project in one construction season. Some said it couldn’t be done, but Banister proved the nay sayers wrong.
The project represents a portion of the 2017 NGTL Expansion Project which involved 8 separate projects throughout Alberta providing essential infrastructure that will deliver natural gas from NW Alberta and British Columbia to growing markets in Canada and the United States.
Banister was involved in constructing the Tower Lake section of the Towerbirch expansion project located near Dawson Ck British Columbia. The project involved constructing approximately 32 km of NPS 30 pipeline and associated facilities included completion of two horizontal directional drills (HDDs).
Construction of the project was progressing well until a nighthawk decided to build a nest in the middle of one of our HDD drill pads just before mobilizing equipment to the site. In order to avoid disturbing the nest the project team quickly redesigned the drill path and created a buffer between our project activities and the nesting site. In the end both the hawk and client seemed pleased with the outcome as the project proceeded on schedule and the nest remained undisturbed.
Banister was able to accommodate construction through numerous wetlands and wet site conditions using thousands of interlocking mats to reduce the overall environmental impact.
The Towerbirch Project will help to connect the Montney Supply basin to markets in North America. Firm service transportation contracts totaling 859 mmcf/d were signed by the Cutbank Ridge Partnership and 5 other Montney basin producers.
The Vaughan Mainline Expansion project provided the next phase of pipeline capacity expansion in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) following completion of the King’s North Expansion Project (KNC) a year earlier. The project involved constructing 12 km of NPS 42 natural gas mainline and associated facilities including completing 2 horizontal directional drills (HDDs) and 2 Direct Pipe Installations (DPIs) starting at a point near Bolton Ontario and ending near the town of Kleinburg. The project involved similar constraints as the KNC project including a mix of rural and urban pipelining and complicated trenchless crossings.
During construction the Banister team devised a unique 30 m culvert installation across the Purpleville Creek and coulee that permitting pipeline construction to proceed through the area with minimal disruption. This unique approach saved considerable time and money for the client and avoided Banister having to install multiple bridges to accommodate both the mainline and HDD sections.
During the project Banister was required to complete demolition and cleanup of several old building foundations along the ROW and encountered a significant snake hibernaculum. Banister assisted with the rescue and transplant of over 100 snakes, also constructing a new den nearby where they would be subsequently released to their natural habitat the following spring season.
The project is part of the 2013 to 2030 Mainline Settlement Agreement between TransCanada, Enbridge Gas, Union Gas Ltd., and Gaz Métro Limited Partnership for transportation services and provides increased capacity to facilitate growing demand for clean burning natural gas in the GTA.
The project involved installing 41 km of NPS 36 natural gas pipeline between the Union Gas Dawn Hub and the Dover Transmission Station in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, including the removal of the existing NPS 16 line and completion of two horizontal directional drills (HDDs). The project, an extension of the Union Gas Panhandle natural gas transmission system serves customers in Windsor-Essex, Chatham-Kent and surrounding areas, including the burgeoning greenhouse market near Leminton/Kingsville.
A unique challenge that Banister faced on the project was to install a 40 m temporary bridge across the Rivard Drain to enable the flow of mainline activities without having to accommodate costly equipment moves. Once the bridge was installed aqua dams were used to isolate the crossing to permit installation of the mainline sections beneath the Rivard drain. A unique and innovative approach developed and implemented by Banister’s project team to solve a complex problem.
Accommodating 2.5 m of cover beneath the drainage ditches adjacent to some busy roadways also presented some challenges during construction. Some deep excavations were required that needed adequate preparation, shoring and barricades to ensure the safety of workers and public during construction.
Despite the numerous challenges associated with record amounts of rainfall in the area Banister was able to complete the project on time.
A significant series of projects that Banister was involved in for Enbridge was the Norlite diluent line which involved construction of a portion of the 489 km pipeline from Enbridge’s Stonefell site in Edmonton to Enbridge’s Athabasca and Norealis terminals near Ft. McMurray Alberta.
Construction of the projects spanned 3 seasons between 2015 and 2017 and involved a significant amount of winter construction to allow for access to wet areas not normally passable in the summer months. The Norlite 1 spread was hampered by unseasonably wet weather conditions that created difficult site conditions which required numerous alterations to our execution strategy to ensure safe and efficient progression of the work. Despite some difficult site conditions and temperatures dipping below -45 C at times the project was completed on time.
This important project provides the infrastructure that enables Enbridge to manage the transportation of hydrocarbons from the oils sands region under a 25 year agreement with Fort Hills Partners (Suncor Energy, Total E&P Canada, and Teck Resources) and Suncor.
Scope: Spread 1: 68 km x NPS 24, Spread 5: 87 km x NPS 24, Spread 6 A,B,C: 53 km of NPS 24
