Here is the AccuWeather/Brett Anderson latest interpretation of the ECMWF long rang weather forecast for North America
and specifically Canada. This update goes through most of August. Looks like there won’t be a lot of grass cutting done in SW Ontario throughout August.
via AccuWeather.com – Brett Anderson | Extended Long Range Weather Model Forecast.
Centreline: Long range forecasting and winter road weather is important information for public works staff.
IPhone apps like Camera+ (http://taptaptap.com) extend public works social network reach. http://twitpic.com/253dm4
Excellent meeting in Clarington today with operational staff. Very impressive and professional. Taxpayers are well served.
New Patcher Faster and More Productive
The Python 5000 cleans, fills, and compacts pothole patch material in approximately 2 minutes.
Don’t tell Dan Murphy, President, Innovative Marketing (“a better idea company”) that you can’t take on potholes and win. Dan has been a champion of road surface rehabilitation and maintenance in Ontario for over 40 years. He has promoted cold-in-place recycling, chip sealing, dynapatching and many other surface preservation strategies that have helped Municipalities throughout Ontario protect their valuable road pavement assets. He is known as the ‘go to’ guru of promotion on behalf of Ontario’s road maintenance private sector companies.
Currently Dan is promoting a new product that will redefine one of the most mundane, costly and labour intensive road maintenance activities – pothole patching. The Python 5000 Pothole Patcher (Python Manufacturing Inc.) is a one person/in cab, self contained, mobile, 5ton capacity patcher that travels at highway speeds to/from job sites. Manufactured by Python Manufacturing Inc. in Regina, Saskatchewan this innovative and productive machine may be coming to a road near you to clean, fill, level and compact all size potholes at approximately 2 minutes/pothole. Now that’s production.
I’ve been in the road maintenance business for many years and to me this looks like a quality piece of equipment. Dan has travelled to Regina to check out the company and the patcher. He is confident that he has another winner in his stable and I agree. If you would like a demo just contact Dan on his cell (705.935.1014) or office (705.448.9359). He also will be promoting Python’s line of sweepers.
RoadMap: Python 5000 Pothole Patcher Video
CentreLine: Another quality Canadian road maintenance product promoted by a high quality marketing agent.
Go Green! Fleets everywhere today are seeking ways to optimize their operations for reasons of corporate social responsibility and public image, cost control, and environmental purposes – the “triple bottom line.”
Green Fleet 401
This forum will be held in conjunction with Green Fleet Expo 2010 and will introduce “the big picture in future automotive transportation”, with a discussion of emerging national and global directions in automotive fleets and fuel, as well as innovative products and developments.
Location: Centennial College, Ashtonbee Campus, Toronto, Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Forum 8:45 a.m. until noon.
Confirmed expert speakers for Forum 401 (June 10th) include:
- John German, Senior Fellow for the International Council for Clean Transportation, with prior experience with the EPA’s Office of Mobile Sources, Chrysler, and Honda Motor Company.
- Antoine Belaieff, Toronto City Director of Clinton Climate Initiative and formerly involved with the development of The Big Move, Metrolinx’s regional transportation master plan.
- Richard Gilbert, Author and Transportation Consultant to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
- Matt Crossley, General Motors of Canada – Director of Engineering, with previous experience developing new business strategies for telematics and hybrid electric vehicles for General Motors Europe.
Price: General Admission $75 + GST; Municipal Employees $60 + GST
RoadMap: Registration
CentreLine: Municipalities should be local leaders in modern fleet management techniques and proven best management practices.
From FCM – Canadian municipalities support the intent of new federal wastewater standards and are now calling on federal, provincial and territorial governments to close the biggest loophole in the proposed regulations – the lack of a national funding strategy.
FCM Annual Conference
Implementation costs underestimated
The proposed regulations will directly affect 400 cities and communities and require the reconstruction or replacement of 1 in 4 of Canada´s wastewater treatment systems. Early analysis shows the proposed regulations underestimate the implementation costs. In fact, the estimated cost of meeting these regulations in just four cities – Vancouver, Montreal, Halifax and St. John´s – nearly exceeds the regulation´s estimated cost for the entire country.
RoadMap: Full FCM Position
National Public Works Week (May 16-22, 2010) is a celebration of the tens of thousands of men and women in North America who provide and maintain the infrastructure and services collectively known as public works. The OPWA Kick-off Event and Pioneers Luncheon (Thursday, May 13th) featured 7 excellent speakers discussing public works infrastructure/asset management current status, issues and several important future challenges.
Wally Wells, P.Eng., Wells Infrastructure Group Inc. (“Asset Management BC”) outlined the status of the Local Government Asset Management Working Group (LGAMWG). The group has finalized their terms of reference, vision, mission and objectives. The ‘way forward’ for the group will be:
• PSAB 3150 follow-up (i.e. condition assessment guidelines)
• Integration – focus on core strengths and deliverables
• Communication – get the message out and solicit input from stakeholders; educate public and politicians
• BC Knowledge Product – follow up actions
• Pilot projects – find practical asset management (AM) solutions
• Tools – create a ‘tool chest’ for sustainable AM
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Michael Mortimer, P.Eng., Program Manager, CSA Standards provided an update on CSA training and publications for buildings and municipal public works. The Municipal Infrastructure Solutions Program (MSIP) focuses on delivering practical, pragmatic and proven tools and services in the form of new standards, best-practice guides, technologies and training offerings.
Currently there are 14 technical committees/working groups established to guide the development of additional courses and publications. CSA would welcome additional knowledgeable participants on these advisory committees.
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An excellent round table discussion –“Challenges for the Next Decade”- featured Kathleen Llewellyn-Thomas, P.Eng., York Region (transportation), Allan Magi, P.Eng., City of Birlington (facilities), Andrew Pollock, Niagara Region (solid waste) and Mike Price, P.Eng., Mike Price& Associates Inc. (water/wastewater).
Some of the issues/challenges outlined included:
Facilities
• Performance measurement similar to linear assets needed
• Consistent condition assessment approach (i.e. facility condition index)
• Energy management
• Funding/inflation
• Multiple use facilities to address aging population and recent immigration patterns/interests
Waste Management
• Recycling – move to full producer responsibility (Waste Diversion Act/June 2010)
• Composting – 2nd generation plants, different/conflicting methods; biofuel
• Disposal – landfill capacity; district heating potential/projects (Durham); fuel production from waste
Water/Wastewater
• Source Protection – world-wide and in Canada
• Future design/capacities of infrastructure – considering reductions in usage (i.e. condos)
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The keynote speaker Reg Andres, P.Eng., Vice President, R.V. Anderson Associates Limited presented ‘Sustainable Infrastructure Management – Where We Are & Where We Are Going”.
His main message for OPWA members….asset management has come a long way; OPWA members need to lead the way into the future; continue to get the message out regarding infrastructure management, funding and sustainability.
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RoadMap:
• National (Canada) Asset Management
• Asset Management International – Dr. Penny Burns (Australia)
CentreLine: “An asset without a user is an asset without a value”
On The Road Again
A fresh start; A new focus and a new attitude….
After a few weeks of dealing with a compromised (i.e. ‘attacked’) blog I am very pleased to be ‘On the Road Again’.
Without going into detail – because I don’t understand it – there is no clear indication of the method of attack. Some hosting companies put the blame on outdated versions of the WordPress application however many compromised blogs were running the latest WordPress version.
Stolen FTP or blog admin passwords, a vulnerability in the WordPress blogging platform or a bug in a popular WordPress plug-in are valid possibilities. So as my technical guru – aka my son – has advised….make up a complicated password; change it often; don’t install too many plugins and finally…..get reliable backup. Since he salvaged my site and all of my hard work I’m going to heed his advice.
What about this new focus and attitude? Well, an associate of mine gave me some sage advice during my blog ‘down time’. He suggested to:
• add more op-ed content (I am the editor however more opinionated – but balanced – content may be warranted in some posts; let the reader agree or disagree;
• maintain – despite the previous suggestion – a genuine, humanistic touch whenever possible; readers like good general information expressed with sincerity and understanding;
• go beyond the current focus (i.e. to communicate relevant Ontario municipal core public works related information) to a larger – say perhaps ‘global’ perspective. Many of my past posts contain ‘out of Province’ information; that’s a good thing because many organizations in the public works business have national and international interests and therefore stories.
These are all great suggestions coming from someone whose input I respect, however I’ll tread lightly for now – I’m not ready to strategically ‘go global’ quite yet – and make an effort to add more balanced opinion, maintain relevant content and finally have a larger perspective on some public works related issues. Sounds like a plan.
OTTAWA, Ont. — March 19, 2010 — Environment Minister Jim Prentice today announced that the proposed Wastewater Systems Effluent
Regulations have been published in Canada Gazette, Part I beginning the formal 60-day public comment period.
“Last month, I released a public-consultation draft of the regulations because we wanted to hear back from Canadians. And today with the Canada Gazette posting, we are again listening to Canadians and working to make the proposed wastewater regulations law. These are concrete steps we are taking to make sure that Canadians continue to enjoy water that is clean, safe and plentiful for generations to come,” said Minister Prentice. ”
RoadMap: Full News Release
Resin Liner Saves Millions in Project Cost
The rehabilitation of the Rideau River Interceptor Sewer in Ottawa is partly completed using cured-in-place technology.
The City of Ottawa faced a huge project management challenge – including prohibitive cost concerns – two years ago when they planned replacing manholes along a sewer line deep beneath the west bank of the Rideau River. Until recently, the project to replace the manholes and original clay sewer line (constructed in 1899) was put on hold. A 500 meter section was repaired in 2009 but another 2 kilometres under the river, Queensway and river park shoreline needed replacement. Needless to say, several environmental impact studies and permits would be required before construction even started.
However all that proved to be unnecessary using “cured-in-place pipe liner which inserts a new, flexible resin liner into the old pipe, essentially putting a new modern pipe inside the fragile old one. Thanks to the City of Ottawa staff (Rick Legault) and competent contractual staff (Veolia Environmental Services) the job is now well underway and is expected to cost about 75% less than originally anticipated (i.e. full construction costs).
Full Story: Ottawa Citizen
RoadMap: Video of project in the Ottawa Citizen
CentreLine: Knowledgeable, resourceful Municipal and contractual staff are the best solution to satisfactory project completion.
