Volume 9 Issue 6
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 $5.00
T E C H N O LO G Y
INFRASTRUCTURE
Hoists and helicopters
Massive crane makes historic connection
A hoist, human cargo and water are a mix requiring special fail-safe systems B Y C A R R O L L M CCO R M I C K
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earning how to survive a helicopter ditching into the ocean is best done under realistic conditions. In aid of this goal, Survival Systems Training Limited (SSTL) in Dartmouth, N.S. dunks trainees in a helicopter trainer, suspended from a specially designed hoist. Its designers left no room for failure. This hoist is suspended under the roof of a 43-metre by 27-metre building, completed in 2014, called the Marine Aviation Survival Training facility (MAST). Mounted on a beam and girders, it can maneuver SSTL’s Helicopter Underwater Egress Training simulator, or HUET, over portions of the poolside deck and the 25-metre by 14-metre by 5-metre deep pool itself. The hoist sits roughly 13 metres above deck level and 14 metres above the pool’s surface. < The hoist moves the Helicopter Underwater Egress Trainer over the pool for a search and rescue training session. The backup battery pack is in the silver box. Photos Carroll McCormick continued on page 8
E N T E R TA I N M E N T
Cranes help bring giant French puppets to life B Y M AT T J O N E S
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uring Montréal’s 375th birthday celebrations last year, two visitors to the city stood out among all others – a pair of 10-metre-tall marionettes called the Deep Sea Diver and the Little Girl Giant. The puppets come from the Royal-De-Luxe street performance troupe from Nantes, France. The giants’ gestures and movements are controlled by a bevy of puppeteers who maneuver them by swinging on control ropes like pirates in a swashbuckling movie. Heavily customized mobile cranes keep the marionettes upright and move them around through the city while the puppeteers provide the illusion that the puppets are moving by themselves.
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B Y S AU L C H E R N O S
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stainless steel pedestrian bridge construction project nearing completion in downtown Toronto has called for two of North America’s biggest crawlers. The new bridge is a result of ongoing efforts to build infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists. In 2001, city council adopted the Toronto Bike Plan which includes a network of bikeways, and Toronto’s official plan supports links between parks and open spaces. In this case, Garrison Crossing will connect Trinity Bellwoods and Fort York, neighbourhoods long divided by two rail corridors extending westwards from Union Station. “This major infrastructure project will not only create a new connection with great vantage points for the local neighbourhoods around King Street West, Liberty Village and Fort York, it will offer new ways for pedestrians and cyclists to move across the city,” said Mike Whelan, vice-president of major projects with CreateTO, which is overseeing the project on the city’s behalf. continued on page 10
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France’s Royal-De-Luxe puppeteering troupe use cranes to manipulate giant puppets. Photos: www.royal-de-luxe.com.