The Ontario Construction Report Special Feature
The fifteenth Ontario Concrete Awards attracted 30 entries in 10 categories, reflecting both innovation and design excellence in concrete building and infrastructure construction. “We saw an increasing trend of infrastructure submissions this year,” said Tom Bellis, Concrete Ontario’s director of marketing, after the awards ceremony at Construct Canada in Toronto on Dec. 2. Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) president Clive Thurston emceed the event, which attracted nominees, suppliers and industry leaders to celebrate concrete success stories. “On the transportation infrastructure side there was a mix of projects from road rehabilitations and improvements using concrete, as well as pedestrian pathways, tunnels and parks, including the UP Express,” Bellis said. “For institutional projects there were a number of university and college building projects, hospitals and facilities that were constructed for the Pan Am games in Toronto and the surrounding areas.” He said there was a great mix in submissions in the categories, reflecting an increase in competition from last year. Concrete suppliers submitted their most interesting projects, along with municipal departments, architects, engineers and general contractors. The awards have been designed to recognize supporting suppliers and sub-trades, as well as design professionals, who have made the projects possible. Bellis said two winning projects worthy of special attention include the Spragues Rd. project in the Waterloo region under the infrastructure category, and the Guardian Under Run bicycle accident prevention system in the specialty applications category. “Although these projects may not have as much of the glamour as some of the other winners, they showcase the industry’s dedication to health and safety and infrastructure improvements,” he said. “Also standing out this year, not only at the Concrete Awards, but at various other award shows as well, was York University’s Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence,” said Bellis. “Not just an architectural and engineering delight, this building showcases how many building materials – steel, glass, wood and, of course, concrete – can work harmoniously to construct a wonderful building.”
The 2015 award judges included: Paul Belanger, Belanger Engineering; Rob Burak, Canadian Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute; Derek Crain, Crain Architects Inc.; Greg Delfosse, City of Brampton; Savio DeSouza, Bridge Check Canada Ltd.; Rico Fung, Cement Association of Canada; John Hobbs, John Hobbs Architect; Doug Hooton, University of Toronto; and Ernie Patton, IBI Group. Ontario Concrete Award organizing committee members were: Alain Belanger, ACI-Ontario Chapter; Nancy Chapman, Concrete Ontario; Nancy Clarkson Loreto, OCCDC; Luis dos Reis, BASF Canada Inc.; David Garjich, St. Marys Cement; Marie Glenn, CRH Canada Group Inc.; Brian Hall, Canadian Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute; Bart Kanters, Concrete Ontario; Geoff Kinney, Concrete Floor Contractors Association; Mike Little, Grace Canada, Inc.; Angie Luis, Lafarge Canada Inc.; Frank Mazzocco, Sika Canada; Brian Salzar, Euclid Canada; Clive Thurston, OGCA; Lennie Triolo, Reinforcing Steel Institute of Canada; Tom Wehlend, Essroc Italcementi Group; and Mike Yorke, Carpenters District Council of Ontario.