Expanding its services to include utility locating, utilities, and telecom, the almost 400-employee-strong business has come a long way from its early days, says President Alan Boudreau.

Soon after moving to California in the late 1980s, the young Alan began working with his father, learning plumbing from him. “I was the one that liked to play in the dirt, so I learned how to run one of the backhoes,” he says. “I was the shovel guy in the ditch. Instead of renting backhoes, I ran the one backhoe that we had.”

Starting his first rental company called A&B in 1996 as an owner/operator, Boudreau began bidding on jobs, soon leading to his first major project in Rancho Santa Margarita.

There, he took on a project for a large electrical company at the Port of Long Beach. This soon found him working on school infrastructure and other big jobs, including a 400-home project in the Orange County city of San Clemente. “That got us to be able to grow,” he says. “It was a master development.”

Getting bigger…

With the business growing unstoppably from a one-man operation to a company of almost 400, Boudreau Pipeline today works on projects ranging from about $10,000 for small fire lines into the millions for big jobs that take months.

At present, the company is busy with four projects ranging from $10 million to $20 million. With quality and timely delivery themselves the best advertisement, Boudreau Pipeline doesn’t do a lot of proactive marketing, since approximately 85 percent of its work comes from repeat customers.

“We have built a reputation, and really don’t have to go out and solicit,” says Boudreau. “We turn down anywhere from 45 to 55 percent of the work we’re asked to bid on – we don’t have the capacity to do it.”

Big or small, every job is a reflection of the company’s professionalism and teamwork. This comes across in its strong culture, and an upbeat get-it-done attitude, entrenched in Boudreau’s philosophy.

Internally, employees get votes from their peers for their can-do. Externally, the business continues receiving awards and has been a top workplace for six years running in Southern California. A big factor in the company’s ongoing success is the people who join Boudreau.

“The quality of people that we want to hire revolves around what we call our intangibles. That’s work ethic and willingness to learn, passion and heart,” says Boudreau.

“The team philosophy is hungry, humble, and smart. They all look after each other. No one is above anybody else. They care and take pride in their work. Their values include communication, accountability, owning what they do, and treating people with mutual respect. So when you have those three elements there, it makes for a great work environment.”

… and giving back

For years, a notable element in the company’s success has been its willingness to give back to the community. Before the business’s 20th anniversary in 2017, Alan Boudreau was actively working with different charities and making donations, but then realized that strength in numbers would make an even greater positive impact.

This saw the company holding different charity events every quarter. In time, these morphed into a large single event held annually, a charity car show featuring unique vehicles, crafts, and a barbecue and brews.

At the beginning of the year, Boudreau’s charity committee gets together and decides on the charities that will be their year’s focus; often, these turn out to be the ones that are near and dear to staff.

Although COVID in 2020 prevented the company from holding a charity event, the next year’s one was Boudreau’s biggest to date, supporting the Autism Society of Inland Empire and Leaps and Bounds, which provides equestrian therapy for children with disabilities.

“We had 135 cars and bikes, and over a thousand attendees,” says Boudreau. “It’s a short day, and a lot of planning that goes into a single day that starts at nine and ends at two, but we were able to raise over $53,000 this year, and our entire team gets into it.”

Adding to the efforts of the staff, the company works with the City of Corona. The local fire department brings an old, restored fire engine to the show; there are kids’ areas, and local schools bring their rhythm and dancing sections in for performances.

And instead of handing out run-of-the-mill awards, company mechanics use broken mechanical parts to create unique trophies.

“It’s been great for all of our employees,” Boudreau says. “They love to participate.”

Like other businesses, Boudreau is facing challenges finding skilled workers. Despite this, the company has a three-person team dedicated to recruiting and managed to hire over 200 people last year, netting about 105.

Investing for greatness

Along with getting the right people for the job, Boudreau Pipeline continues making investments in equipment, including The Telebelt®. Resembling a fire engine ladder truck, The Telebelt has a large conveyor belt that extends and telescopes.

This makes it ideal for moving or removing stone, gravel, sand, and other materials and for performing tilt-up work on distribution centers for clients like Amazon and Target.

Along the coast of California, large underground detention systems are required to retain rainwater, allowing it to percolate back into the ground. With pipes up to 140 inches, it is not unusual for these systems to be the size of a football field.

To create these detention systems, a considerable amount of rock and other material has to be filled in around the pipes. The Telebelt allows Boudreau to feed and distribute material over and around these large systems with great efficiency.

Representing an investment of about $800,000 and requiring a specially trained operator, The Telebelt is presently being used on a large project for Hillwood Development. Intended to be a 2.5-million square-foot Target distribution center in Riverside County, California, the project is expected to keep the team at Boudreau on the job for another four to five months.

Complementary growth

To meet the growing needs of customers, Boudreau has created several new entities over the years. In 2014, the company launched Boudreau Utility Locating, which works with engineers in locating existing utilities to aid in the utility design for new projects.

Two years later it was Boudreau Utility Services, which often works with mobile-home parks on special programs related to safety.

Then, in 2020, the company established Baseband Telecom Corporation. Working with different providers like Cox and Verizon, Baseband is helping with upgrading infrastructure fiber work, increasing bandwidth, and 5G and other Internet-related services.

Turning 25 this year, the company is working on several initiatives, including an open house for customers and vendors, and the annual car show.

Several years ago, Boudreau set a goal of being completely paperless and digital by 2023 and is in the middle of an ERP implementation and process improvement project.

In the coming years, Boudreau plans to move into new areas including Northern California on the pipeline side, and expand by acquiring other companies. “The growth plan is definitely to have more locations, find other adjacent industries and complementary businesses that we can form to give people opportunities,” Boudreau says. “We are a people company, not a pipeline company.”

The post In the Business of People<p class="company">Boudreau Pipeline</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Ecofitt is a diverse, award-winning manufacturer and installer of conservation-focused products and programs. It serves utilities, government agencies, and residential and commercial customers with energy efficiency programming, furnace upgrades and maintenance, lighting, weatherization, and smart home upgrades.

Dedicated to providing clean energy solutions to customers and clients, Ecofitt’s focus on conservation products allows it to offer a comprehensive range of services and support, from program development to implementation and management, energy audits, retrofits, custom energy-saving kits, and rebate programs.

“We’ve been in the manufacturing side for a while; however, in about 2005 we saw a need in the market here for a Canadian company that would do the supply and distribution of conservation products across Canada,” says CEO Robert Mains.

“That was mainly because there were no Canadian companies doing it at the time, and currently, there are still none.”

According to Mains, most companies who work in the industry have to source products through U.S. partners, which easily gets complicated by cross-border issues, particularly in the last couple of years.

“Ecofitt was mostly doing distribution and supply; however, in 2015 we saw another need in the market – for direct-to-manufacturer in Canada – so we started manufacturing our own line of lighting and water conservation products.”

That proprietary line included “Eco Brilliant” LED lighting products, as well as two water-saving product lines, the “ULTRA” and “ECO MASSAGE” series.

The company is completely committed to delivering exceptional results to each of its clients while also introducing clients to the most up-to-date products and technologies to help them succeed with their programs.

The company has also looked at sourcing some new items — including the idea of EV chargers — but in general Ecofitt sticks to supplying the government and working with energy efficiency programs across the country.

“We’ve predominantly manufactured for ourselves and for sale of the energy- and water-saving devices,” says Mains. “The Ecofitt products have become a smaller portion of our overall company. Our specialty over the past few years has been in the supply and install of energy savings products and conservation services to low-income and Indigenous communities.”

Those communities were identified through strategy sessions in 2018 as being generally underserviced with energy efficiency programs. The company also partners with governments and utilities, believing that it is much cheaper to conserve a unit of energy through energy efficiency and conservation than it is to create one unit of energy.

“In a household, if you can spend $100 to save $1,000 worth of energy in the year, that’s the basic principle of it,” says Mains.

“The provincial authorities that regulate the electric and gas utility systems have an integrated planning process. What comes out of that process is a series of specific programs for conservation,” says Mains. “Those are the programs we generally operate. There are a lot of bigger companies that do industrial, but we’re more focused on the residential and small commercial. It’s harder, but it’s our specialty. There are a lot of smaller transactions and smaller stuff from an energy conservation perspective, but that’s our focus.”

That focus allows the company to help others conserve wherever possible. For residential it’s easy if you consider the basic science of it, he says.

“You live in a box, and whatever heat you put in that box you want to keep in the box, and there are a number of ways to do that.”

That could mean more insulation in the walls, the basement, and the ceiling, which, depending on the size of your house, is the biggest part of the box exposed to the outside.

“Windows feel so cold because they generally only have about one-tenth of the insulation that walls do, and that’s the reality of a windowpane,” says Mains. “You can’t get insulation in the windows, but the walls or ceiling can have the biggest impact depending on the size.”

“We have programs all across the country from BC to Newfoundland to the Yukon,” Mains says. “In some areas, you sign up and get a kit of light bulbs, a window sealing kit, the plastic that goes over it, all the way to what happens in BC, where we’re doing insulation and furnaces, and all that is free for income-qualified customers.”

Although the industry may be small, it’s growing, but that growth often relies on whatever government happens to be in power at any given time.

“The changed governments in Alberta and Ontario at around the same time both decided that energy conservation wasn’t a thing that needed to be done,” he says. “But that’s recently been changed by the same governments, bringing back conservation. It’s an economic argument as much as an environmental one. If you can spend three cents, or even one cent, to save a kilowatt-hour versus 10 cents to create a kilowatt-hour, you should do the one cent first. It just makes more sense.”

All governments have both introduced and cut programs, he adds, but it’s the unpredictability of these government changes that creates turmoil. It’s a four-year cycle that affects the business significantly.

“I’ve been in this business since 2008, and I started with the federal EnerGuide program, which is basically the same as Greener Homes, but rebranded,” says Mains. “The most successful long-term programs are housed in utility systems. Once programs are embedded into the utility system, then it generally stays for a longer term.”

It’s a challenge they face, he says, but generally, all governments see the benefits once they realize the economics, and so the company perseveres with its energy-saving products.

While Ecofitt doesn’t currently manufacture its own thermostats or hot water heaters, he adds, it does have a number of supply partnerships with companies that do. More and more, Ecofitt projects involve the installation of smart technologies, such as current projects in BC and Newfoundland that install devices on regular water heaters that allow owners to put them on a schedule, or turn them off if they were gone for a length of time to save on unnecessary usage.

Another part of the equation is called “demand response,” says Mains. Ontario is having an issue (and also had one in the past) with rolling blackouts due to running out of energy. Rather than just turning off all the energy in one spot, the concept around demand response programs would be to turn off 1,000 hot water heaters across a bigger region, to keep everything level.

“This hasn’t been as big an issue in Canada, but the U.S. has a lot of programs that look for demand response where you can just turn off people’s energy – but turn off things that aren’t going to affect their lives too much.”

Ecofitt’s own challenges have included being completely shut down for eight months in 2020 due to COVID, and the company has fortunately escaped any significant impacts from the ongoing supply chain issues.

“There’s no manual for a pandemic,” Mains says. “They don’t teach you that in business school. There were some mistakes made, and it was a tough time, but we came out relatively unscathed. We’re still a company and a going interest so that’s good.”

That interest continues to flourish in a society where staying at home has become a new normal, coupled with an increasing awareness of conservation and energy efficiency in the general population, which, he says, ‘trickles up’.

“It trickles up to the people who create the programs and that’ll get us more interest which makes it easier. To be honest, it’s hard to give away free stuff. People don’t trust it, and they think there’s a catch.”

Other obstacles have included maintaining the labour force, but Mains believes the company’s mission speaks to people and will attract them to the organization.

“More people now are looking to do something with their lives that means something,” he says. “There’s a general interest across the board in climate change. People start researching and next thing you know, you’re getting an uptick on your recruitment.”

The company is also moving into small commercial lighting with programs across the country that focus on small-to-medium enterprises and new, smart lighting technologies that are showing growth in demand as well.

“It’s an interesting industry,” says Mains. “It’s really small and not a lot of big Canadian companies are involved. There are usually a lot of smaller local players which is good in a way. And we don’t run it like a big company. We’re technically medium-sized, but our regional offices run their regions independently, and we provide oversight and additional information and support for the regional offices.”

For now, Ecofitt relishes its unique niche in a market where U.S. companies that are trying to come into Canada don’t fully understand the market.

“It’s like taking California, turning it sideways and stretching it out by three times and up three or four times,” says Mains. “It’s a different beast. We’re specialized. We understand the market. We have regional offices and people to handle the relationships. I think that’s our strength; we’re national but we’re local. And we’re more local than national so that’s one of our big advantages.”

The post Committed to Conservation<p class="company">Ecofitt</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Enter ENERSOLV Design + Build Ltd.

Located in Vancouver, British Columbia, the company has been transforming the industry for over 15 years. Already known for its turnkey delivery of HVAC and plumbing systems, Enersolv recently added an electrical division to offer complete Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) services for complex, mixed-use projects—making the company unparalleled across Canada when you factor in their unique design-assist and design-build processes.

While the traditional tender-bid-build process may have worked well in the past, the desire to hit lower carbon goals has increased the complexity and scale of projects to such a degree that the historical dollar-driven choices are no longer viable. Designers know the many ways to lower carbon emissions, but contractors understand the nuance of labour and material cost as well as real world practicality. When designers don’t consult with constructors and vice versa, developers find themselves spending more money than expected or are faced with an inability to meet their low carbon targets.

Enersolv has everything under one roof.

“In breadth of offering, I think we are pretty much unparalleled across Canada. There may be larger mechanical contractors or larger electrical contractors, but we have our own consultants, our own engineers, and our own asset developers,” says Business Development Director Adrian Ryan.

Enersolv’s ability to offer design-assist and design-build streamlines the process for developers and allows them to make well-informed decisions to maximize cost efficiency and ensure their low carbon goals are met or exceeded.

An example of the value of the design-assist and design-build process is in Appia’s SOLO project located in Burnaby, BC. Enersolv has worked with SOLO from its first phase through to its fourth, where the first phase began with a traditional tender-bid-build process. For its second and third phases, Enersolv was selected for design-assist. For its fourth and final phase, SOLO elected Enersolv to do the design-build process. Throughout the 10-year long SOLO project, we see in real time the market’s shift from the traditional process to new, more effective delivery methods.

Design-assist and design-build are the ways of the future. Having everything under one roof allows Enersolv to provide a business case backed by great engineering, robust financial analysis, and current market pricing. For developers, a business case tailored specifically to their project is an invaluable asset because it gives them financial justification based on numbers rather than opinion. With the big picture in mind, they are able to ensure their projects meet or exceed their low carbon targets both practically and efficiently in the real world and throughout its life cycle.

Ryan notes, “Those developments are now so complex that the developer has worn the scars of going for the cheapest contractor or the lowest bid, and they’ve realized that they now have to hire contractors that are more sophisticated who can help reduce risk with an integrated design and construction process.”

As the market shifts, Enersolv continues to grow. “We’ve expanded the business to such a point now where we have a world-class service offering, and we’re just focusing on building on our world-class team,” says Ryan. “We invest in our staff, and they, in turn, invest in us.”

Over the last three years, the number of employees has risen from approximately 75 to 150. The team leaders understand the importance of loyalty to its staff, which has resulted in a reciprocal commitment from employees. A world-class team will be instrumental in Enersolv’s continued work in transforming the industry, pushing the market limitations to encourage innovation and technological advancement, and solidifying the company’s seat at the table of large-scale, complex projects that exceed their sustainability goals.

The post Adding Value through Design-Build and Design-Assist Services<p class="company">ENERSOLV Design + Build Ltd.</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

It’s a true marvel of Canadian ingenuity and engineering and with 4,000 vehicles crossing per day (pre-COVID), it has made a huge economic impact.

The bridge was a long time in the making – 130 years in fact – in final fulfilment of a promise made in 1867 by the newly-formed Dominion of Canada to link Prince Edward Island to the mainland if it joined the Confederation, which it did in 1873.

The promise was initially kept by CN Marine (later Marine Atlantic) which operated a ferry service across the Northumberland Strait, from Borden-Carleton, PEI, to Cape Tormentine, NB, and which for many years transported entire passenger and freight-carrier trains.

Overrun by demand

That solution was far from perfect, however, because it seemed that no matter how many ferries were in operation or how frequently they crossed the strait, they couldn’t keep up with the demands of the tourism or transportation industries, both vital to PEI.

In the years after trains stopped running in PEI, wait times of up to four hours faced commercial transport drivers and young families packed into cars, eager to get to the island’s beaches, or islanders with business on the mainland. And since the ferry service did not operate after midnight, the only way to get off the island in an emergency was by air.

The years of frustration ended on May 31, 1997, with the opening of the appropriately named Confederation Bridge.

The name not only recognizes that long-ago promise to link PEI with the mainland but also acknowledges PEI’s role as “The Cradle of Confederation”. For it was at a meeting held in Charlottetown in 1864, with representatives from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario and Quebec), that the idea of forming one nation was born.

Even though it had been obvious for many years that a fixed link, as opposed to a ferry service, was crucial for the island’s economy, there was a surprising amount of opposition in the 1980s when the idea was proposed.

Proponents cited the much-needed economic boost the bridge would provide, but opponents voiced concern around environmental, safety, and financial issues. The debate was settled by a plebiscite in 1988 in which 59.4 percent of islanders voted in favour of the fixed link.

A modern marvel is born

We had the privilege of speaking with Michel Le Chasseur, General Manager of Strait Crossing Bridge Ltd. (SCBL), who arrived on site on October 7, 1993, the day the Government of Canada and Strait Crossing Development Inc. (SCDI) signed the contract to build the bridge, creating a public-private partnership, or P3.

He’s been on the job, ever since, overseeing all aspects of the bridge. “I was only 38 years old when I arrived, and this year I will be 67,” he says.

“It has been an incredible experience and I am extremely lucky to have done this. It’s been my passion. I’ve been supported by a great team, including others who’ve been here since Day One, too. And to me, it’s like winning gold at the Olympics; it’s something I cherish.”

Le Chasseur explains the partnership structure, unique in Canada at that time. It shifts the risk of construction, budgeted in 1993 at $730 million and equal to the subsidy, from the government, and allows SCBL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SCDI, to recover the delta to the actual cost of $1 billion by collecting tolls which are also used to operate and maintain the bridge for 35 years.

At the end of that time, in 2032, management of the bridge will revert to the Government of Canada, unless it should choose to continue with the present arrangement.

The multi-award-winning 12.9 km bridge, which saw 6,000 employees and sub-contractors cross the gates during the four-year construction period, was designed by a consortium headed by a joint venture of J. Mueller International and Stantec (then SLG Consulting).

It used precast concrete parts, which were fabricated on a 150 acre open yard and assembled on site.

The bridge is composed of a multi-span concrete box girder, with the 11 km long main bridge supported by 44 piers. The 1.3 km New Brunswick approach from Cape Jourimain rests on 14 piers, with 7 piers in the 0.6 km approach from Borden-Carleton, PEI.

“What may be a surprise to people outside the industry, is that the bridge features a hollow core,” Le Chasseur says, “and 12,000 km of cable, which is what really holds it together.” This hollow core allows engineers to carry out regular inspections.

More than just a stroll
Walking the length of the bridge, from PEI to New Brunswick, “is part of our ongoing maintenance program,” says Le Chasseur. “We’re walking and eyeballing, taking pictures and comparing them with the last time we were there. We carry laptop computers, and we can bring up construction drawings to analyze something in particular,” he says.

“Our inspections include going down hollow pier shafts along with diving inspections to see what’s happening at the bottom of the strait. As well, the bridge is equipped with tiltmeters to monitor its movement, and ice flows are also monitored. On top of that, there’s a full annual inspection with independent engineers, and their report goes to the federal government, owner of the bridge, and Strait Crossing,” he explains.

“After 25 years the bridge is in excellent shape and now the thinking is that it will last longer than the 100 years it was designed for. One of the biggest challenges in the construction process was the presence of ice in the strait, but with the warming of the planet, scientists are now predicting there will be no ice in the strait by 2050, which seems to be good news for the longevity of the structure.”

While ironically, the bridge may benefit from global warming and climate change, it has also contributed significantly to the environment by eliminating 44,000 tonnes per year of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses that the ferries produced annually for the past 25 years.

In addition, all the lighting on the bridge has been converted to LEDs that consume 30 percent less energy than the ones used in the initial design.

“We are mindful of whatever we can do in terms of improving the environment. We are talking about micro-solar farms and looking at acquiring electric trucks. They are hard to come by, but we have them on our radar,” says Le Chasseur.

25-year connection
Not only is structural safety paramount, so is vehicle safety. In control rooms at each end of the bridge, traffic is watched 24/7 through 25 cameras posted along the crossing. If a vehicle stops at any point, a patrol vehicle heads out to assess the situation, which could of course be serious or something as trivial as running out of gas.

Ready to respond is a dedicated towing service along with EMS services – fire, police, and ambulance. “We do whatever it takes to keep people safe, including monitoring weather conditions. We’ve been fortunate with very few accidents over the years,” Le Chasseur says.

Things couldn’t have been better for the Confederation Bridge and the tourism and transportation industries until March 2020, when the unexpected occurred: the first of several COVID-19 lockdowns. The bridge remained open, and commercial traffic, deemed an essential service, flowed freely across it, but with restrictions on interprovincial travel, tourism came to a grinding halt.

“What kept us going was commercial traffic, but we had a 40 percent reduction of overall traffic in 2020 and 2021. Because the island doesn’t produce most of what it needs, everything is shipped from the mainland, so it was extremely important for the bridge to remain open when all other travel was strongly discouraged. Commercial traffic became our bread and butter.”

Apart from tourist and commercial traffic, the bridge plays a vital role in helping separated families. “Children go back and forth between parents on weekends, and in the space of a year the cost could be onerous, if you are driving your own vehicle at the 2 axle rate,” Le Chasseur explains.

The solution was to offer a self-serve shuttle for only $4.75 instead of the regular toll of $50.25 (for 2-axled vehicles) in which one parent can drive the children across the bridge to meet with the other parent, as long as the car returns within 40 minutes of departure.

The same program works for other applications such as university students who go back and forth on weekends. “We have 500 such accounts, so that means the system is working.”

Plans to come

Twenty-five years is a milestone anniversary, and Le Chasseur is hoping that he’ll be able to arrange some events of significance, however, COVID-19 and attendant restrictions remain an unpredictable variable.

“COVID has made things difficult, but we think we are moving toward the end of the pandemic and the provincial government is talking about removing restrictions by April 7.”

Still, when we talked in mid-February it was too early to reveal definite plans. “We are looking at different things, but we are not ready to announce.” He hints, however, that it could involve several smaller events spread across the tourist season, starting with the anniversary of the bridge opening on May 31.

“But it will have to be a bit different from our big 20th anniversary celebration which was timed to Canada 150 celebrations.”

Those interested should check social media toward mid-April for announcements.

Meanwhile, the Confederation Bridge remains open, as it has throughout the pandemic, with opportunities for contactless payment through Interact and major credit cards when leaving the island at the toll plaza in Borden-Carleton. Tolls are tax exempt.

Frequent users can utilize the StraitPass transponder system, which is a convenient and secure link to the driver’s credit card. It can also be connected to other toll facilities which accept the MacPass, (for Halifax’s MacDonald and MacKay Bridges and the Stanfield International Airport parking lot) and the E-Pass at the Cobequid Pass, north of Truro on TCH 104.

The post The 25-Year Link<p class="company">Strait Crossing Bridge Ltd.</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.