Region of Peel Hanlan Water Project
The Region of Peel serves approximately 1.3 million residents and more than 88,000 businesses in Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga. Peel Region has undergone a major transition during the past few decades. Rapid population growth and commercial development has transformed what was primarily a rural area of farms and villages into a dynamic blend of urban, industrial and residential areas. With that in mind, the Region has undergone some major enhancements, the latest project, the Hanlan Water Project being the largest to date.
The Hanlan Water Project is costing in the range of $480 million and is the most extensive water main initiative the Region of Peel has ever designed and constructed. The build includes the installation of a 2.4 m diameter Hanlan feeder main and a 1.5 m Mississauga City Centre sub-transmission water main.
The feedermain will run approximately 14.5 km from the Lakeview Water Treatment Plant on Lake Ontario to the Hanlan Reservoir and Pumping Station at Tomken Road and Britannia Road East. The sub-transmission main will run approximately 6 km from the Hanlan Reservoir and Pumping Station to the intersection of Cawthra Road and Burnhamthorpe Road.
Construction began in 2011 and is scheduled to be completed by late 2016.
A focus on tech and innovation
One of the major focuses of the build is its innovative and forward thinking nature. The Region of Peel is working closely with Pure Technologies – a local vendor based in Ontario – to install a fiber optic cable through the pipeline to help detect leakages and manage maintenance. “In the future, the technology will enable us to pinpoint leaks not only within our own system, but also within adjacent systems so we will be aware of any potential threat to our pipeline,” says Project Director, Anthony Parente.
“Pure is not only installing the system, but will also help with interpretation of data, so essentially we will have a real-time condition assessment tool, which will help prevent major breaks to the pipeline,” he says.
Community engagement
The main goal of the project is to service the community and prevent any downtime or water shortages, however Parente and his team are only too aware that during construction the general public can feel more inconvenienced than benefitted. With this in mind a major emphasis was placed on public relations and outreach programs.
“We have spent a lot of time reaching out to the community. We introduced two ambassadors to our team and their job is to integrate with the community and work with them to understand what their needs are. They work with residents and businesses alike,” says Parente.
The Ambassador Program finds out information that is important to the community such as:
· Peak traffic times
· Least disruptive construction hours for local businesses, and
· Any other issues the Region may have overlooked
Armed with this information Parente and his team can work to minimize potential impacts.
People management
From the onset, decision makers at the Region of Peel recognized that the Hanlan Water Project was bigger than anything it has taken on in the past, and as such decided to take a different tack when it came to planning.
“We went out into the industry, looked at similar case studies and asked international vendors for their input,” says Parente. “We then invited people to come and get a feel for the project and an understanding of its challenges before the tender process. We had a couple of sessions whereby we had contractors from all over the US, some from oversees come and visit us and take part in those sessions. It was a great success.”
From day one, the Region of Peel has taken great pride in the Hanlan Water Project and that shows. The construction project is meticulously planned and thought out and has a great team of people on board. Carrying on, on this trajectory, it’s sure to be a success.