With its first winter construction season over, the $299-million Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway construction project is well underway, reports the Northwest Territories government.
INUVIK, N.W.T.
With its first winter construction season over, the $299-million Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway construction project is well underway, reports the Northwest Territories government.
The 137-kilometre all-season highway will link the communities of Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, which is currently only served by ice road, barge and air. This new highway to the Arctic coast will connect Canada’s road network from coast to coast to coast. It is one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken by the Northwest Territories government.
“The Inuvik Tuktoyaktuk Highway is the northern-most segment of an envisioned highway through the Mackenzie Valley. The benefits generated by the construction project are injecting renewed vitality into residents and businesses of the Inuvik region. Such strategic investments in transportation infrastructure are imperative to strengthening and diversifying the NWT economy,” said transportation minister Tom Beaulieu in a statement.
Seventy-two days of construction took place on the north end of the project near Tuktoyaktuk, lasting from mid-February to the end of April. During this time, crews made progress on the construction of 16 kilometres of embankment, one bridge and six large diameter culverts. On the south end by Inuvik, there were 58 days of construction from March 3 to the end of April, resulting in progress on the construction of 13 kilometres of embankment, two bridges and seven large diameter culverts.
Over one million cubic metres of embankment material was moved during this time.
At the peak of construction, 425 individuals were employed by EGT Northwind. About 10 per cent of these workers were females and involved in all aspects of the construction project from environmental monitoring to operating 40-tonne rock trucks.
Over 18,000 person/days of employment were created during winter construction, including almost 15,000 person/days for NWT and Inuvik Region residents. This does not include employees working for the 41 subcontractors hired by EGT Northwind to provide a range of services from wildlife monitoring to medical services. In addition, 83 per cent of these subcontracts were awarded to northern companies.
The project company used simulators to train more than 70 individuals on different types of rock truck and excavator equipment during the first construction season. Training activity is expected to increase during the next construction season that is anticipated to last up to six months.
While most construction activities occur during the winter, shaping, grading and compacting activities will resume at the end of June until fall. During this time, no movement of material from the borrow pits will take place. This plan is developed to protect the permafrost underneath the highway.
The federal government is contributing up to $200 million towards the project and the government of the Northwest Territories is contributing $99 million.
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