TWIN FORCEMAINS CROSSING THE ATHABASCA RIVER IN FORT MCMURRAY, ALBERTA, CANADA

摘要

Fort McMurray is the major urban center in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB),located in northeast Alberta. Fort McMurray is located just south of the major oil sands development that has been ongoing in recent years,and as a result,has been experiencing phenomenal growth. To service this growth,the RMWB has been investing in major infrastructure upgrades,one of which involved a twin forcemain crossing of the Athabasca River. The crossing included two 900 mm HDPE pipes installed by horizontal directional drill (HDD) methods,with each drill being over 1,200 m in length. This paper provides an overview of the complexities of the project,which included significant environmental,geotechnical,land acquisition and public stakeholder considerations. There were also several other contractors working in the area,including a major bridge construction project,that presented a number of logistic complications that had to be addressed by the design and the contractor's work plan. The project team's approach to overcome these issues,that included a risk sharing plan between the owner and the contractor that identified responsibilities prior to construction start up,will also be discussed.