NEWS BRIEFS
plant near Richardson International Air-
port in 2008.

CBC says RCMP said earlier this
year they are investigating the con-
struction of the mail processing plant,
which was built by the company re-
sponsible for the Winnipeg police
headquarters project — which has
been under investigation for two
years. Both the airport postal facility and
the downtown police HQ were built by
Caspian Construction.

Investigators were permitted to
look at the banking activity in the joint
venture account between July 1, 2008
— the date the contract was signed to
construct the Winnipeg mail process-
ing plant — and Jan. 1, 2016, when
RCMP said Canada Post made its last
payment to the builders.

The Winnipeg Construction Associ-
ation (WCA) said it’s highly unusual for
a company like Canada Post to still be
paying builders six years after a project
was completed.

“Normally the final monies flow
after the building is declared substan-
tially complete by the design team,”
said WCA president Ron Hambley. “At
that point, the builder’s lien holdback
of 7.5 per cent plus amounts for out-
standing items would remain to be
paid.” “Lien holdback is supposed to flow
after 40 days. The other amounts
won’t flow until work is completed,”
Hambley said.

Caspian and AECON declined to
comment to CBC.

ONTARIO Ottawa: Feds offer $1.09
billion for LRT second stage
as city decides on three
finalists for $3.5 billion
project CONSTRUCTION ACROSS CANADA
Three construction teams have
been qualified to compete for the sec-
ond stage of the Ottawa LRT project,
which received a boost on June 16
when the federal government formally
committed as much as a $1.09 billion
for the overall $3.5 billion initiative.

The finalist names are expected to
be announced within weeks. Then the
O-Train planning office, led by Chris
Swail, will bring the project to the
award stage with a report to Ottawa
city council.

Rideau Transit Group, (RTC) won’t
be one of the shortlisted Stage 2 bid-
ders, since it agreed to a $492-million
contract with the city to maintain the
LRT line, provide communication
equipment, expand the maintenance
yard and supply 38 more Alstrom LRT
trains. The overall construction project in-
cludes rail extensions east and west,
as well as an expansion of the first
stage Trillium Line to Riverside South
and the airport, as well as widening
Highway 417 between Highway 416
and Maitland Ave.

There will be 38 km. of new rail built
beginning in 2018. Trillium Line exten-
sions (which RTG can bid on) to the air-
port and Bowesville Rd. in Riverside
South are planned to open in 2021.

Then the eastern LRT to Trim Rd. will
be completed by 2022 and the west-
ern extensions to Moodie Dr. and Al-
gonquin College will be ready by 2023.

The costs of the core LRT and Tril-
lium Line will be shared equally by the
municipal, provincial and federal gov-
ernments. The province and feds will
split extra costs for the $315 million
rail extensions to Trim Rd. and the air-
port. The federal government has already
committed more than $67 million for
34 – Summer 2017 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report
Stage 2 planning through the first
phase of the Public Transit Infrastruc-
ture Fund last year.

Toronto: Governments
allocate $1.185 billion for
flood protection project
to develop Toronto’s
waterfront area
Federal, provincial and municipal
government have committed to
spending $1.185 billion on the Toronto
Port Lands Flood Protection project
that will lead to extensive develop-
ment of a major stretch of Toronto’s
waterfront. At a June 28 news conference,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario
Premier Kathleen Wynne and Toronto
Mayor John Tory joined Waterfront
Toronto CEO Will Fleissig to announce
joint the funding for Waterfront
Toronto. The Government of Canada
will contribute as much $384 million to
this project, and the Government of
Ontario and the City of Toronto will
each contribute more than $400 mil-
lion. These investments will help protect
Toronto’s Port Lands from flooding and
lay the groundwork to transform the
underused industrial area into a vibrant
and resilient downtown neighbour-
hood, a news release says.

In the last decade, global warming
has resulted in increased flooding in
urban areas. The project will provide
critical flood protection through the
creation of a naturalized mouth for the
Don River. It will also help clean up
contaminated soil, unlock land ripe for
development, and establish new
aquatic habitats and wetlands that
support native species.

These efforts will help support the
long-term transformation of the Port
Lands into new mixed-use communi-