The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) presented its Award for Excellence in Innovation in Civil Engineering at the CSCE Annual General Meeting and Conference held June 9-12 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The award, sponsored by Canam Group, was bestowed on the following group of four British Columbia organizations: the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia; the Ministry of Education of British Columbia; the Seismic Peer Review Committee; and the Earthquake Engineering Research Facility of the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of British Columbia for their innovative Guidelines for Performance-Based Seismic Assessments and Retrofits of Low-Rise British Columbia School Buildings.

“The CSCE is very pleased to partner with Canam Group in presenting the Award for Excellence in Innovation in Civil Engineering,” said George Akhras, Chairman of the CSCE Innovation and IT Committee. “This award, created to encourage innovation in all civil engineering disciplines, is bestowed on an individual or group belonging to a Canadian firm or research organization involved in the practice of civil engineering in Canada.” He emphasized that this award is primarily intended to encourage creativity and ingenuity in civil engineering practice.

In November 2004, the premier of British Columbia announced a $1.5-billion seismic mitigation program for schools in the province. The B.C. Ministry of Education requested the assistance of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC), in collaboration with the University of British Columbia (UCB), to develop standardized seismic retrofit tools for the implementation of the seismic mitigation program.

With the support of the Ministry of Education, the APEGBC has delivered a performance-based risk assessment tool and a set of retrofit design guidelines for the seismic upgrading of existing school buildings in the province. These seismic retrofit tools have been peer-reviewed by leading provincial and international professional engineers and offer low-cost public safety solutions that can be used by local practitioners.

This innovative applied research project incorporates a performance-based probabilistic methodology, the seismic hazards associated with three types of earthquakes (crustal, sub-crustal and subduction) likely to occur in the province, and site response analysis to determine soil amplification effects. An important outcome of this project is the creation of a large electronic database of analysis results that can be readily accessed by all registered practitioners.

The technical development is a collaborative initiative by the APEGBC Seismic Peer Review Committee, a panel of highly experienced local professional engineers, and the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of British Columbia.

This groundbreaking work involved a unique collaboration between the B.C. Government (Ministry of Education), engineering practitioners (SPRC), academia (UBC) and the provincial engineering regulatory body (APEGBC). Their accomplishments have been recognized both nationally and internationally by leaders in this field. This innovative approach is being used to address a significant public safety concern in British Columbia, while making an important contribution to the international engineering community towards reducing injury and loss of life due to earthquakes.

“Canam Group is proud to be associated with the CSCE and to encourage innovation in the field of civil engineering in Canada,” stated Tony Bégin, commercial development manager. “The practical and commercial application of experimental discoveries aimed at improving the design and construction techniques used in civil engineering projects is consistent with our company’s position: Better Building Solutions.”

About Canam Group Inc.

Canam Group is an industrial company operating 18 plants specialized in the design and fabrication of construction products and solutions. The company employs close to 3,000 people in Canada, the United States, Romania and India, and has partnerships with companies in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and China.

About the CSCE

Founded in 1887 by prominent civil engineers in Canada, the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering is a learned society intended to develop and maintain high standards of civil engineering practice in Canada and to enhance the public image of the civil engineering profession.

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