Amico
The Right Honourable Herb Gray Parkway
What makes it interesting?
This once-in-a-generation, major highway infrastructure project is unprecedented in terms of its community enhancement and environmental features for any highway, anywhere in Ontario. The project site runs through one of the most unique and diverse habitats in Ontario. Amico developed and implemented a highly-complex Environmental Management Plan that included protection of Species-At-Risk habitats; Environmental Compliance Monitoring; provided systematic, easily reviewed and tracked inspection monitoring records consistent with the Environmental Management System; and Fisheries Mitigation Measures, including the development and creation of fish habitats.
How HCSS Software assisted with this project
Amico had a contract worth over $250 million dollars with 300 items to bid in three different phases over four years in different site conditions.HeavyBid allowed them to streamline and organize the bid to win the job while utilizing tools to properly estimate fuel management and escalation costs on a mega-project that lasted more than four years. HeavyBid then provided and maintained a system for proper project controls to manage the job efficiently and effectively.
Project Description:
The Right Honourable Herb Gray Parkway, a $1.4 billion highway infrastructure project that will improve traffic flow at Canada’s premier trade gateway, is 11 kilometers in length and includes a new urban six-lane freeway with multiple interchanges and a new parallel four-lane service road network. The freeway portion of the project is below grade, which lowers the visibility of trucks from adjacent properties, has no traffic signals, and is fully illuminated. The overall project includes 11 cut-and-cover tunnels with 1.8 kilometers of total coverage, and connecting bridges and earth-retaining structures.
As a major subcontractor (Excavating/Earth Moving, Road/Bridge Construction, Site Servicing), and strategic partner with the consortium that was successful in procuring the Parkway project, Amico is involved in various design and construction components of the overall project, including: the provision of technical support throughout the design phase, managing document control and scheduling, adding value engineering and local expertise to constructability, providing efficient mobilization and remobilization over the 11-kilometer highway segment, providing crews for infrastructure construction, and implementing and monitoring construction as per OPS.
The Parkway was a Design-Build-Finance-Maintain project procured through the Ministry of Transportation-Ontario and Infrastructure Ontario. Amico was integrated into the design phase components of the overall project from proposal stage to construction. Innovative methods utilized on the Parkway project included Leica GPS, machine controls, and survey/quantity measurement methods. Using these systems, Amico is in a unique position for projects that are in design development during construction (i.e. able to work effectively and efficiently from raw CAD files).
Amico also has the ability to upload files to dozers, graders, and rovers digitally in real time. This also provides a state-of-the-art system for document and data control. Amico also utilized geo-grid and geo-textile for soil and roadbase strengthening to avoid excess excavation and minimize imported granular materials and was able to lower overall construction costs by utilizing cement treated Open Graded Drainage Layers.
This extremely large highway construction project presented many interesting challenges for the communications and consultation team, including obtaining environmental clearances where there were species-at-risk, ensuring the thousands of people living near the project were kept informed of the upcoming construction activities and given meaningful notification for road closures and detours, and ensuring municipal councils were kept informed. Working in strong partnership with the MTO and all relevant stakeholders proved invaluable to the overall success of the project.
