Volume 10 Issue 2
MARCH/APRIL 2019 $5.00
INFRASTRUCTURE
OIL AND GAS
Bridge cranes lift mega-load in tandem at hydro powerhouse
A challenging and pivotal year for Alberta oil and gas
B Y S AU L C H E R N O S
CAPP discuss outlook for 2019, goals for 2020, and beyond
Muskrat Falls generation site powerhouse, spillway and north dam looking upstream on the lower Churchill River, December 2018. Photo courtesy of Nalcor Energy.
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wo bridge cranes, working in tandem to hoist 800 metric tonnes during a load test at Nalcor Energy’s Muskrat Falls generation facility on the lower Churchill River in Labrador this past summer, showed that a little cooperation can go a long way. From the time ground was broken in 2012, heavy lifters of all kinds have seen duty, from mobile rough terrain cranes handling various components to enormous Hydro Mobile F300 elevator-like hoisting platforms provided by Montreal-based AGF Access Group.
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E N T E R TA I N M E N T
What goes down must come up: Cranes erect roller coaster at Canada’s Wonderland B Y S AU L C H E R N O S
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hen using cranes to install a roller coaster, it’s perhaps only fitting that work crews experience the ride of their lives. The Yukon Striker will not only be the newest kid on the block but one of the wildest when Canada’s Wonderland theme park north of Toronto re-opens for the season in late April. Imagine ambling along at moderate speed, hovering briefly at the precipice of a 90-foot drop, then plunging 75 metres at 90 degrees into an underwater tunnel. Currently in its final stages of installation, the Yukon Striker is billed as the world’s tallest, fastest and longest dive coaster. The Swiss-built ride is 1,105 metres long and designed to reach speeds of 130 km/h, drop 75 metres in a single dive, and soar through four inversions including a complete 360-degree loop. The coaster features one of the world’s largest inversions, where the tracks — and the world — flip topsy-turvy. continued on page 6
BY ANDREW SNOOK
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lberta’s oil and gas sector should be expecting another challenging year ahead, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). Ben Brunnen, vice-president of oil sands operations and fiscal policy at CAPP, says the association expects 2019 to be another “batten down the hatches” year for the industry. “2019 is going to continue to be a challenging year for the oil and gas sector, coming off what I would say was a particularly challenging year in 2018,” he says. “Investment in our sector in 2019 is expected to decrease by about 10 per cent, year over year... a second consecutive year of decline.” Investment in Alberta’s oil sands has been experiencing the most challenging market, now in its fifth straight year of declining investment.
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