39 Issue 4 Winter Edition 2018 BUILD MANITOBA CHERISHING CHURCHILL Churchill Marine Observatory expected to be global hub for Arctic ice research By Kelly Parker As David Barber, Associate Dean (Research) of the Department of Environment, Earth and Resources at the University of Manitoba, tells it, “About 15 years ago or so, I was meeting with the Mayor of Churchill, Mike Spence, and he said that it would be really nice to have more marine science done in Churchill. The Churchill Marine Observatory (CMO) facility generated from that conversation.” Then, the only land route to the build site was washed away for 18 months just after shovels had gone into the ground. The $14.7-million, 50,000-sq.-ft. CMO research facility will investigate ecological issues related to marine transportation, and oil and gas development in the Arctic. It includes two OSIM (Oil in Sea Ice Mesocosm) tanks, a logistics base and lab space. It will use the natural Arctic conditions and natural sea water to grow and test sea ice that has been impacted by oil, liquefied natural gas or other contaminants. These two large, concrete pools are each 30 feet by 30 feet and 10 feet deep. “The structure of those pools was a major factor in the design,” explains Melissa McAlister, Principal, Prairie Architects Inc., “because the water is going to be allowed to freeze. Because they’re using salty sea water, all of the components had to be stainless steel.” “The most challenging part,” says structural engineer Ken Dyck of the KGS Group, “was in making it work with all of the lateral loads that were induced from essentially freezing a big sheet of ice. The load on those pools because of the bulk of that are roughly 12,000 psf of ice trying to push its way out of the tank. We did some pretty advanced analysis, using finite element computer modelling, and that along with our own calculations, dictated the solution.” He adds, “The pools needed to incorporate high performance concrete that was highly impermeable to both improve durability against freezing temperatures and sea water contact, but also from potential contaminants/oils HYDROPOWER SERVICES IN CANADA AND THE USA construction management r

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