Trenton’s Advanced Warfare Centre a unique build

When your sub-contractors include a company specializing in installing indoor rock climbing walls, you know you’re building something special. In this case the building is the Canadian Forces Land Advanced Warfare Centre (CFLAWC), a centre of excellence for advanced combat skills located at 8 Wing/Canadian Forces Base Trenton, in Trenton, Ont.

General contractor Varcon Construction Company Corporation began work on the $36-million training complex in early 2013 on behalf of client Defence Construction Canada (DCC).

The lump sum contract includes construction of the 145,000 square-foot slab-on-grade building, extensive site work for vehicle parking, open training areas and security perimeter fencing. The building was designed by GRC as part of a team led by SNC-Lavalin (Halifax).

“It’s an interesting project because the building is so varied, from administrative offices, to training areas, classrooms and storage space,” says Dan Gargaro, construction manager for Varcon.

“It’s also built of a variety of materials, from structural steel, to insulated metal panel, curtain wall, precast masonry exterior and concrete formed wall.”

Steel work comprised a significant portion of the schedule, including both structural steel and a concrete-topped steel mezzanine. Mirage Steel is handling both steel fabrication and installation. Gilbert Steel Ltd. is providing reinforcing steel.

The building varies in height, rising from 12 metres at the front to 23 metres at the rear, where some unique training features will be located.

“The centre’s rappelling wall is a concrete facade of a four-storey building with windows that looks like an apartment building,” says Gargaro.

“It features several surface materials and is designed to allow soldiers to practice scaling and entering urban buildings.”

An indoor parachute tower is being built on site, and will allow parachute trainees to practice jumping onto a cushioned surface from a height. The rock-climbing wall is being purchased from Entre Prises USA.

Building systems are being enabled with BACnet, a data communication protocol for building automation and control networks.

“We’re working with R.E.L. Controls to co-ordinate mechanical, electrical and security systems, which will be monitored and controlled remotely,” says Gargaro.

“It’s an ongoing process over several months to integrate communications and ensure that the systems are talking to each other.”

Construction activity at the project was scaled down during the unusually cold and snowy winter.

“We completed some winter construction, but with temperatures consistently at -20 C or worse, even our winter construction techniques couldn’t compensate for the bitter cold,” says Gargaro.

“We’ve ramped up again with 10 sub-trades on site, including Selleck Mechanical and Cremer Brothers Electric. Our workforce will be peaking later this year at 120 workers.”

Meeting a stringent DCC approval process, Varcon expects to complete the project on schedule by the end of 2014, followed by a detailed commissioning program into 2015.

“We have to be finished on time,” adds Gargaro. “They’ve already got a group of soldiers booked for training later this year.”

Project manager Carlo Osellame says he feels a strong sense of connection to the work he’s overseeing. His son, Corporal Paul Osellame, was deployed to Afghanistan from September 2008 to Easter 2009 as a member of the Canadian Army Reserve.

“Afghanistan was a turning point for the Canadian Armed Forces in that the world saw that we were not just peacekeepers, but an effective fighting force,” says Osellame.

“Although many Canadian Forces personnel were killed during a 12-year period, that number would have been much higher without the excellent training they received. This centre will provide unique training opportunities for soldiers from all over Canada. In my heart, I feel that when we get this building built, my country’s armed forces will be even better trained going forward.”