AGF Access Group (AAG) engineers have developed a customized transport platform to help Réseau Express Métropolitan crews access a jobsite 20 storeys below ground.
The Montreal-based AAG was selected by NouvLR to supply equipment and services to assist with the construction of the Edouard-Montpetit station, part of the new Réseau Express Métropolitan (REM).
The REM is an electric and fully automated metro transit network and the largest mass transit project in Quebec in the last 50 years.
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Jamco, AAG’s Quebec-based construction hoists and transport platform rental arm, provided a Hydro Mobile S Series transport platform for the initial phase of the project and will provide a temporary construction elevator for the second phase.
Dedicated operator safety training, fences, stair towers, a small fixed platform, pier access to formwork and hoarding are also provided.
The construction of the Edouard-Montpetit station required the digging and removal of 30,000 cubic metres of rock, as well as building the entire infrastructure for the station.
During the digging phase, an electric Hydro Mobile S Series transport platform provided access for personnel to build the base of the deep pit and to start erecting the steel structure, about 70 metres (20-stories) down.
The S Series transport platform, provided in December by Jamco, has a capacity of 2,449 kg and travels at 9 metres per minute. As well, the platform has overhead protection, emergency descent system and overload protection.
“I have never seen a project like this”
AAG engineers developed a customized approach in which chemical epoxy anchors affixed the transport platform to the rock face.
“In my 40 years of experience, I have never seen a project like this,” said Marcel Jameus, president of Jamco. “Usually, we anchor transport platforms by drilling directly into the concrete, but because the wall is made of limestone, we developed our own innovative solution.”
Once the pouring phase begins, workers will efficiently travel 61 metres per minute using a temporary construction elevator from road level to the pit’s bottom and back.
“Our extensive experience with infrastructure projects has led to providing access solutions for another iconic Montreal construction project,” said Alex Di Domenico, vice president of major projects at AAG.
“Combining a high-quality Hydro Mobile transport platform and construction elevator, the ingenuity of the AAG engineering team, and Jamco’s excellent customer service offers a superior access solution for this transformative Montreal construction project.”
The Edouard-Montpetit station will be one of 26 stations on the new 67-km light rail network.
NouvLR, a partnership between SNC-Lavalin, Dragados Canada Groupe Aecon Québec, Pomerleau and EBC won the contract in 2018 to do the engineering and general construction of the entire project.
Work on the Edouard-Montpetit station began in July 2018 and is expected to continue until 2022.
