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Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #796
SIGNIFICANT INTEREST SHOWN BY CONSTRUCTION FIRMS IN FIRST 2010 VENUES
Steve Matheson, the senior vice-president of Venues for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC), told a meeting of contractors interested in bidding on the first two major projects that about C$15 million worth of the work -- about 15% -- will be contracted to the Squamish and Lil'wat aboriginal companies.
The total budget for building the Whistler Sliding Centre (WSC) and the larger Whistler Nordic Centre (WNC) is about C$100 million, meaning that about 85% of the work would go to non-aboriginal operations. The funds will be spent on various packages of work that will be done during six-month construction 'seasons' during the 2005, 2006 and 2007 summers.
Matheson was taken aback by the amount of interest shown by firms interested in getting information on the venues. He had expected, until a few days ago, that about 50 or 60 representatives of contractors and subcontractors would show up for a meeting VANOC called in downtown Vancouver, but more than 150 people registered for this afternoon's session, which was held in two-thirds of a large hotel ballroom.
Matheson, flanked by VANOC's newly hired WNC project manager, Doug Ewing, and executives of the engineering firms for the projects, Stantec, which is dealing with the WSC, and Sandwell, supervising the design of the WNC, provided an overview of VANOC's strategy of how the construction work would proceed, and how the tenders for various types of work would be organized. Although specific packages of work were outlined, it was obvious that VANOC was still working on whether some of the packages of work would be combined, particularly during 2006 and 2007.
Ewing told the contractors to think of the work as essentially large earth-moving projects, since there would be large amounts of rock and dirt excavated or moved to prepare for the skiing, in the WNC project, and the bob-luge-skeleton sports in the WSC, and that, for instance, the extensive network of ski trails associated with the WNC would be similar in construction to well-designed and drained logging roads, which would be about 16 to 17 metres wide.
Matheson noted that aboriginal interests and involvement has been built into the Vancouver/Whistler Games from the early days of the bid, and were formalized in a Shared Legacy Agreement signed by various governments and the Bid Corporation; the construction work was a realization of the intentions in that agreement. However, Matheson said, talks were still underway with the two aboriginal bands on just what types of work would be contracted to aboriginal firms, and how it would be organized, but he said that the bands have indicated they have expertise in clearing, grubbing and some types of building construction. It was still undecided whether VANOC would contract directly with the aboriginal firms, whether the tender packages would have aboriginal subcontracting requirements, or whether there would be a mixture of the two.
He also said that band councils would not have direct influence in the make-up of the job allocation within those contracts -- something that plainly worried some of the contractors during the feedback session of the meeting -- as aboriginal companies would be formed to deal with that. And, he added, that aboriginal contractors will be subject to the same scrutiny and oversight from VANOC -- no more and no less -- than non-aboriginal contractors.
Matheson says VANOC will be issuing a formal Expressions of Interest request on each project that will be published throughout Canada within the next two weeks, with four or five companies shortlisted. Tenders for specific packages of work will be issued by the end of March, and construction work will start about June 1. "We'll be making a big effort to engage companies from coast to coast on the work, and we'll be setting the bar high for us and for the firms for construction performance."
The main design documents are expected to be finished by early March. They will then go to the VANOC Board of Directors meeting that month for approval to proceed. The environmental review for the WNC is expected to go to the respective government ministers for signature by the middle of February, and signed off by the end of March. Permitting is expected to be completed by June, with land-tenure applications completed by June as well.
He also told audience that within the next few months, VANOC would be making announcements about ways to ensure that people working on the Olympic venues will take pride in being identified as being on the Olympic construction teams. "We want to ensure the folks you hire," says Matheson, "Will take the Games home with them. You've heard [VANOC CEO] John Furlong talk about delivering quality Games. Well, flawless delivery of the Games starts with the construction worker. We want them to have a cachet, a sense of prestige, and to take pride in what they're doing on the job." And, he said, VANOC would also be spending quite a bit of time ensuring strict adherence to safety during the construction of the venues.
BACKGROUND
Here's the general types of work packages envisioned by VANOC for the WNC and WSC venues over the next three years. Essentially, tenders and budgets will be matched to the actual work offered in the tenders. The work season is, generally, June to October, depending on weather.
Package 1 and 2, to be issued in April; covers the WNC, WSC - Includes work on the biathlon, cross-country and ski-jump venue areas and their associated stadiums. This also includes areas such as the 12.5 hectare parking lot, which will be big enough to accommodate buses during the event as well as for the on-going commercial operations after the Games. The construction offices will be at the entrance to the area, on the north side of the Callaghan Valley highway that has yet to be built into the area from Highway 99. Ewing says that the areas involve a lot of wet soils, with up to a metre of peat in some places. Examples example of the scales involved: The cross-country venue alone is about the size of a football field; between 100,000 and 150,000 cubic metres of rock will need to be excavated.
Package 1 - The major package for 2005.
Package 2 - Onsite work would probably be part of Package 1, but offsite work would probably be contracted out.
Package 3, to be issued in May, with work to be accomplished between now and 2009:
Matheson says that the competition trail construction will proceed first, because negotiations by VANOC are continuing with aboriginal bands on portions of the recreational trails and their management, particularly those that VANOC feels are required for on-going commercial success of the WNC following the Games, but which intrude on areas the bands feel are traditional "Wild Spirit" locations in parts of the Callaghan. Matheson says the aboriginal groups have signed off on the trail locations required for what he calls the "Olympic footprint."
Package 4, to be issued about the middle of this October - Site Grading and Venue Development - The big package for 2006, but some might be rolled into Package 5, depending on work progress
Package 5, to be issued about the middle of this October - Ski Jump Structures -- the two ski jumps, which will be side-by-side are now confirmed as temporary. That is, they will only be used up to and during the 2010 Games, then decommissioned.
Package 6, to be issued about the middle of this October, but the work will carry on through 2006 to the end of 2007 - Site buildings and the Day Lodge
Package 7, to be issued in 2009: Re-grading and paving
Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on January 31, 2005
Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #796
SIGNIFICANT INTEREST SHOWN BY CONSTRUCTION FIRMS IN FIRST 2010 VENUES
Steve Matheson, the senior vice-president of Venues for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC), told a meeting of contractors interested in bidding on the first two major projects that about C$15 million worth of the work -- about 15% -- will be contracted to the Squamish and Lil'wat aboriginal companies.
The total budget for building the Whistler Sliding Centre (WSC) and the larger Whistler Nordic Centre (WNC) is about C$100 million, meaning that about 85% of the work would go to non-aboriginal operations. The funds will be spent on various packages of work that will be done during six-month construction 'seasons' during the 2005, 2006 and 2007 summers.
Matheson was taken aback by the amount of interest shown by firms interested in getting information on the venues. He had expected, until a few days ago, that about 50 or 60 representatives of contractors and subcontractors would show up for a meeting VANOC called in downtown Vancouver, but more than 150 people registered for this afternoon's session, which was held in two-thirds of a large hotel ballroom.
Matheson, flanked by VANOC's newly hired WNC project manager, Doug Ewing, and executives of the engineering firms for the projects, Stantec, which is dealing with the WSC, and Sandwell, supervising the design of the WNC, provided an overview of VANOC's strategy of how the construction work would proceed, and how the tenders for various types of work would be organized. Although specific packages of work were outlined, it was obvious that VANOC was still working on whether some of the packages of work would be combined, particularly during 2006 and 2007.
Ewing told the contractors to think of the work as essentially large earth-moving projects, since there would be large amounts of rock and dirt excavated or moved to prepare for the skiing, in the WNC project, and the bob-luge-skeleton sports in the WSC, and that, for instance, the extensive network of ski trails associated with the WNC would be similar in construction to well-designed and drained logging roads, which would be about 16 to 17 metres wide.
Matheson noted that aboriginal interests and involvement has been built into the Vancouver/Whistler Games from the early days of the bid, and were formalized in a Shared Legacy Agreement signed by various governments and the Bid Corporation; the construction work was a realization of the intentions in that agreement. However, Matheson said, talks were still underway with the two aboriginal bands on just what types of work would be contracted to aboriginal firms, and how it would be organized, but he said that the bands have indicated they have expertise in clearing, grubbing and some types of building construction. It was still undecided whether VANOC would contract directly with the aboriginal firms, whether the tender packages would have aboriginal subcontracting requirements, or whether there would be a mixture of the two.
He also said that band councils would not have direct influence in the make-up of the job allocation within those contracts -- something that plainly worried some of the contractors during the feedback session of the meeting -- as aboriginal companies would be formed to deal with that. And, he added, that aboriginal contractors will be subject to the same scrutiny and oversight from VANOC -- no more and no less -- than non-aboriginal contractors.
Matheson says VANOC will be issuing a formal Expressions of Interest request on each project that will be published throughout Canada within the next two weeks, with four or five companies shortlisted. Tenders for specific packages of work will be issued by the end of March, and construction work will start about June 1. "We'll be making a big effort to engage companies from coast to coast on the work, and we'll be setting the bar high for us and for the firms for construction performance."
The main design documents are expected to be finished by early March. They will then go to the VANOC Board of Directors meeting that month for approval to proceed. The environmental review for the WNC is expected to go to the respective government ministers for signature by the middle of February, and signed off by the end of March. Permitting is expected to be completed by June, with land-tenure applications completed by June as well.
He also told audience that within the next few months, VANOC would be making announcements about ways to ensure that people working on the Olympic venues will take pride in being identified as being on the Olympic construction teams. "We want to ensure the folks you hire," says Matheson, "Will take the Games home with them. You've heard [VANOC CEO] John Furlong talk about delivering quality Games. Well, flawless delivery of the Games starts with the construction worker. We want them to have a cachet, a sense of prestige, and to take pride in what they're doing on the job." And, he said, VANOC would also be spending quite a bit of time ensuring strict adherence to safety during the construction of the venues.
BACKGROUND
Here's the general types of work packages envisioned by VANOC for the WNC and WSC venues over the next three years. Essentially, tenders and budgets will be matched to the actual work offered in the tenders. The work season is, generally, June to October, depending on weather.
Package 1 and 2, to be issued in April; covers the WNC, WSC - Includes work on the biathlon, cross-country and ski-jump venue areas and their associated stadiums. This also includes areas such as the 12.5 hectare parking lot, which will be big enough to accommodate buses during the event as well as for the on-going commercial operations after the Games. The construction offices will be at the entrance to the area, on the north side of the Callaghan Valley highway that has yet to be built into the area from Highway 99. Ewing says that the areas involve a lot of wet soils, with up to a metre of peat in some places. Examples example of the scales involved: The cross-country venue alone is about the size of a football field; between 100,000 and 150,000 cubic metres of rock will need to be excavated.
Package 1 - The major package for 2005.
- Site preparation - 32 hectares
- Clearing & Grubbing
- Stripping land surfaces - 128,000 cubic metres
- Soil stabilization
- Bulk excavation of soil and rock
- Stream protection - about eight kilometres
- Winter close-up work before the heavy snowfall that occurs each winter
Package 2 - Onsite work would probably be part of Package 1, but offsite work would probably be contracted out.
- Aggregate production for fills
- Borrow-pit development
- Rock excavation
- Rock crushing and screening
- Pit remediation
Package 3, to be issued in May, with work to be accomplished between now and 2009:
- Competition trail construction - about 15 kilometres
- Recreational trail construction - about 75 kilometres
Matheson says that the competition trail construction will proceed first, because negotiations by VANOC are continuing with aboriginal bands on portions of the recreational trails and their management, particularly those that VANOC feels are required for on-going commercial success of the WNC following the Games, but which intrude on areas the bands feel are traditional "Wild Spirit" locations in parts of the Callaghan. Matheson says the aboriginal groups have signed off on the trail locations required for what he calls the "Olympic footprint."
Package 4, to be issued about the middle of this October - Site Grading and Venue Development - The big package for 2006, but some might be rolled into Package 5, depending on work progress
- Roads and pathways
- Olympic compounds - there are about 30 ha of compounds.
- Electrical distribution (which will all be underground, including the main 25 kilo-volt transmission lines that will go about nine or 10 kilometres from Highway 99 to the venues, communications will be served by a fibre-optic channel from Highway 99 to the projects)
- Area lighting
- Water and sanitary systems -- these include a water-storage reservoir above the venues, a wastewater treatment plant that will achieve secondary treatment, a groundwater water-supply well and a related chlorination plant, and various pumping stations.
- Fuel storage, in a small tank farm
- Bridges and retaining structures - About seven or eight permanent bridges over various creeks, plus several temporary ones
- Site drainage
Package 5, to be issued about the middle of this October - Ski Jump Structures -- the two ski jumps, which will be side-by-side are now confirmed as temporary. That is, they will only be used up to and during the 2010 Games, then decommissioned.
- Procurement and fabrication
- Subgrade preparation
- Foundations
- Structure installation
Package 6, to be issued about the middle of this October, but the work will carry on through 2006 to the end of 2007 - Site buildings and the Day Lodge
- Foundations and superstructure work, as well as tenant improvements for a variety of buildings, such as a 15,000 square-foot day lodge, which will be important to the commercial success of the project after the Games and there could be aboriginal involvement in its operation, as well as used in the time leading up to and during the Games, athlete and operational compounds, a broadcast compound for the ski jumps, and commentator cabins. There are about 6,000 square feet of compounds to be built.
Package 7, to be issued in 2009: Re-grading and paving
- Access roads - there will be two main paved roads into the site; one for the public, and one for accredited personnel, such as athletes and broadcasters. There will be several construction roads, including those two, but some will not be kept. There will be a total of six kilometres of roads in the WNC area alone.
- Pathways
- Trails
- Parkground grounds
- Plazas
Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on January 31, 2005