Deltaport Truck Staging Facility – Facilitating the Trade Process Through Expert Project Management
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Lafarge was the general contractor on the Deltaport Truck Staging Facility Project, which was valued at $11 M. This project involved the construction of a Truck Staging Facility on Deltaport Way for trucks heading towards Deltaport, located in British Columbia.
The scope of work was divided into four primary categories, which had further classifications:
THE CHALLENGE
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority collaborated with Lafarge to construct a vital trucking facility for trucks heading towards Deltaport.
The project team at Lafarge conducted an initial project audit and determined the following elements to be the key challenges that their plan needed to address:
Halfway through the project, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, pushing everything to a standstill. Business resumed slowly, but the critical challenge was to manage scheduling people while minimizing the safety risk as much as possible.
The pandemic also led to a significant issue with the steel supply and a trade war, pushing the project team to adjust the estimate and find a way to mitigate the effects.
Truck traffic from Highway 17 to Deltaport Way tends to continue without stopping; hence, it was critical to find ways to create a necessary diversion to get the drivers to follow directions. This challenge required special care because it affected crew safety and would have resulted in severe injuries without appropriate handling.
The construction area was home to an eagle nesting there for the season. Lafarge is committed to protecting wildlife, and the goal was to ensure that operations did not disrupt the animals in any way.
Additionally, the teams also needed to prevent the construction from having adverse effects on the quality of the irrigation water in nearby ditches.
The team faced two critical challenges in subcontractor management. Lafarge needed to take preemptive steps to ensure that the subcontractors were aware of the rules laid out by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI).
Additionally, working during the pandemic meant the teams had to take extra precautions to minimize putting each other at risk of infection.
THE SOLUTION
The Lafarge team has worked on projects with similar challenges and has ample experience finding successful solutions.
One of the most urgent concerns was managing health and safety during the pandemic. Hence, the project team worked with the company's Health and Safety Department to create strict protocols based on the information released by WHO at that time.
The team prepared cleaning stations to ensure all team members were set up to follow protocols. The team also followed social distancing rules where possible and used masks to minimize health risks.
The team cordoned off the area where the eagle was nesting and took steps to ensure the noise, materials, and other aspects of operations did not disturb the bird’s habitat. Furthermore, the Lafarge crew followed the mandated protocols for water disposal to prevent contamination of nearby areas.
Lafarge worked closely with the traffic control authorities in the area to set up clear diversion notifications for incoming vehicles. This solution required announcing construction schedules in advance, arranging most of the operations during less active times of the day, and putting out clear notices mentioning diversion instructions.
The strategies were effective because the work did not cause any noticeable problems for the trucks heading to Deltaport and kept the environment safe for the crew.
THE RESULT
The truck staging facility project was completed in June 2020, which is commendable considering the concerns and delays caused by the unprecedented situation. Lafarge leveraged its best resources to conduct quality assurance and set new standards for commitment to excellence.
