Author: tundrafoundations

Rushing to Beat the Cold Weather at Baydo Pointe

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We are ahead of schedule at our Baydo Pointe project, but are working long hours to beat the coming cold weather. Hopefully it can stay above freezing for a couple more weeks!

Our speed is thanks in large part to the use of Doka-supplied panel formwork. Every time I use the system I am impressed with it’s speed and versatility. We are currently pouring 150′ of wall every week, and I feel like we could go faster if we had more forms on site. And we don’t require a lot of manpower — a crew of 3-4 workers can strip out and stand (one-side) the formwork in 2 days, and button up in another day.

The structural concrete at this 6-story apartment building is confined to the parkade perimeter walls and footings. The floors and walls are pre-cast concrete mounted on steel columns and beams. It will be interesting to compare the pace of construction of this project to the adjacent wood-frame apartments, which are also 6-story.

The very first section of parkade walls – September 20th pour date
Setting up the concrete pump for a morning pour November 1st.
Completed parkade walls.
A stand-alone section of Doka wall formwork.

Chinese Elders Mansion – Edmonton, AB

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Completed concrete wall at Chinese Elders Mansion located in downtown Edmonton.
Decorative Concrete Wall

I have always been extremely happy with our work on the Chinese Elders Mansion, a project we completed in 2022 for Stanley Construction, but I never was able to take pictures of the completed work until this summer!

This formwork and finishing profile on this project was challenging for several reasons:

  • The shape had to match existing concrete as seamlessly as possible.
  • Form ties were restricted to areas of the profile that were to be painted (rather than sand-blasted).
  • Extreme care was needed to shape the top profile in the wet concrete.

Seeing the project 100% complete for the first time recently, I thought it was worth sharing!

 

New concrete to match existing profile
Tundra’s scope is complete, ready for next trade.
Detailed formwork was necessary to construct the required profile.
Fresh concrete showing the cap profile.

 

Winter Has Finally Arrived!

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Winter Has Finally Arrived!

 

 

 

Pouring concrete in the cold weather has its challenges, but we also get to enjoy days of incredible beauty! There’s nothing quite like a blanket of fresh snow or hoarfrost on winter trees.

 

 

 

 

The two sites pictured are Cleartech Warehouse for Petra Holdings, and Sturgeon Lake Women’s Shelter for JEN COL Construction.

Two Edmonton Grocery Stores

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Two Edmonton Grocery Stores

Tundra recently completed the foundations for two new Edmonton grocery stores: a Co-op Food Store located in the Orchards neighbourhood, and a new Sobey’s FreshCo located on Manning Drive. We’re proud of our workers for completing both jobs on extremely tight schedules, and it was great to work for these two general contactors again: Norson Construction and Eton-West Construction!

 

Mina Harvey

Engineer

Erik Chandler

Support Staff

Shoppers Drug Mart – Gateway Blvd

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Shoppers Drug Mart – Gateway Blvd

Tundra recently completed the foundation for this new Shoppers Drug Mart going up on Gateway Blvd in Edmonton. This was a fun job for us, and our first for Fillmore Construction, who we hope to work with again! We love pic #3: it showcases the difference in formwork quality between the loading dock grade beam (not exposed to view) and the ramp wall (will be visible).

 

Exposed Concrete Formwork

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Exposed Concrete Formwork

Our carpenters love to create formwork for structural concrete that’s meant to be seen by the public eye. They take great care in ensuring tight seams, precise corners and bevels, and perfectly aligned tie holes. The stability of the formwork is crucial, especially when it needs to withstand the immense pressure exerted by thousands of pounds of concrete.

The provided images showcase two recent projects: wheelchair ramp walls at St. Mary’s School in Fort Vermilion (with Jen-Col Construction Ltd.) and loading dock walls at FCL’s Lumber Distribution Hub in Fort Saskatchewan (with Pemco Construction Ltd.).

 

FCL/Co-op Lumber Distribution Hub

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FCL/Co-op Lumber Distribution Hub is out of the ground!

 

 

 

We love hearing how easy it is to build on our foundations! Tundra completed the grade beam for the new FCL/Co-op Lumber Distribution Hub in Fort Saskatchewan, AB with 100% accuracy on our anchor bolts. The steel erecting crew was able to place the building with zero problems!

For anyone who doesn’t know structural concrete, these high-strength anchor bolts cast into the concrete play a vital role: they transfer the loads from the steel column to the foundation. Their location needs to be extremely accurate, typically within 3 or 6mm!

We’re proud that we got it done in the middle of winter, with temperatures dropping as low as -25C. We were able to maintain our schedule despite the extra time needed to heat the formwork, rebar, and concrete while it cured.

Thanks to our client, Pemco Construction Ltd. and site superintendent Jordan Woods – you were great to work with! Looking forward to the next one!

Station Park

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Station Park - Elevator Shaft Complete

Station Park

Station Park is an exciting new project: Edmonton’s (first) retail and food & beverage shipping container park! Located on the corner of Whyte Ave and Gateway Blvd, Tundra completed all the formwork required for this building.

The elevator shaft is the interesting part of this project: Using the Gates Cam-Lock system, we were able to complete the entire 3-story shaft in 3 weeks! The result is a high-quality concrete structure.

Visit stationparkyeg.com for more info about the development.

 

 

3 New Gas Station Foundations

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3 New Gas Station Foundations

Edmonton, Red Deer, Sylvan Lake

Tundra Foundations finished three new gas stations in August and September for Keller Construction: a Petro-Canada convenience store, car wash, and canopy in the Edmonton Windermere neighborhood; a Circle-K convenience store and car wash in Sylvan Lake, and a Circle-K car wash in Red Deer.

All sites were great to work on –kudos to the three different Keller site superintendents: Chris, Earl, and Rick!

Check out the complicated step footings for one of the car washes!

 

CN Walker Rail Yard

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CN Walker Rail Yard

Fueling Platform & Tank Ring Foundation

Tundra was contacted in late November to help Phoenix Petroleum with their upgrades to the CN Walker Rail Yard just north of the Yellowhead Freeway in Edmonton.

The fueling platform featured a custom structural landing adjacent to precast rail panels. The landing also incorporated an integrated curb, poured with the broom-finish landing.

The tank foundation is a large concrete ring sitting on compacted ground. Our crew had a lot of fun doing this one –our only regret is that most of the beautiful concrete will be buried!