Ironworkers in British Columbia are raising questions about the contract awarded to Canam Group Inc. for the steel fabrication and installation for the new BC Place Stadium roof in Vancouver, after the company reported millions of dollars in losses on the project.
VANCOUVER
B.C. ironworkers are raising questions about the contract awarded to Canam Group Inc. for the steel fabrication and installation for the new BC Place Stadium roof, after the company reported millions of dollars in losses on the project.
“The project was more complex than Canam expected and they have had a problems with the cable,” said Tom O’Neill, Business Manager for Ironworkers Local 712.
“The local bidders would have been in the ballpark, if Canam had not underbid the project to get the work. The local companies made bids that accounted for the complexity of the project and were more in line with the work involved.”
O’Neill and the Ironworkers Local 712 have heard from sources in the industry that Canam had difficulties attaching the steel cables to the steel towers of the retractable roof.
Structal-Heavy Steel Construction (Structal), a business unit of Canam Group Inc., won the $100 million contract in late 2009, from PCL Constructors Westcoast Inc. (PCL), for the steel fabrication and installation component for the new roof on BC Place stadium.
The Ironworkers wanted the fabrication work to be done by B.C. companies, in order to stimulate the local economy.
The steel components for the project were fabricated by plants in St. Gédéon de Beauce, Que. and Sunnyside, Wash., as well as other international subcontractors.
O’Neill also raised the possibility of the provincial government bailing Canam out with taxpayer dollars.
“From the perspective of PAVCO (BC Place Pavilion Corporation), we don’t see it as having an impact of the project at all, “ said PAVCO chairman David Podmore.
“This is an issue for Canam and some of the contractors who supply them. We have a fixed-price contract for the delivery of the completed facility with PCL.”
PAVCO, government agency, negotiated a $458-million fixed-price contract with PCL Constructors Canada Inc., the primary contractor on the project.
“During the first quarter of 2011, the corporation recorded a liability in the amount of $34 million, consisting primarily of cost overruns for the completion of the cables for the retractable roof at BC Place in Vancouver,” said a Canam financial report.
“The corporation considers that this amount represents the total anticipated costs in excess of total anticipated profits on the contract; discussions are underway with various project intermediaries in order to reduce the impact of these cost overruns.”
“At the end of the day, it’s safe to say the project was more demanding on their resources than anticipated,” said David Campbell, principal with New York-based Geiger Engineers. “That said, they are doing a good job and are committed to seeing this project through to a successful conclusion.”
The contract includes design-engineering, detailing and project management services, as well as the fabrication and erection of the structural steel and cables for the retractable roof.
No one at Canam was willing to further discuss the cost overruns.
When completed later this year, BC Place will have the world’s largest retractable-cable roof.
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