The construction of venues for the 2010 Winter Olympics is coming to an end.

Here’s a snapshot of what two Vancouver-based contractors did during the hectic building schedule leading up to the big event.

TIGHT 5 INSULATION

Tight 5 Insulation had contracts at three Olympic venues and one for the power plant that heats the Olympic Village. The first of its kind in North America, the energy plant, called the Southeast False Creek Energy Centre and Sewage Pump Station, extracts heat from sewage system to heat the village.

The contractor’s job at the plant (awarded on a low-bid basis) was to insulate the mechanical system’s large bore (10-14-inch) piping, including domestic, heating and heat recovery pipes. “It was the equivalent of doing a large boiler room,” explains Brad Haysom, president of Tight 5 Insulation, a mid-sized contractor that recently moved its shop from Vancouver to Burnaby. The job, done from June to October for a contract value of about $250,000, was straightforward enough, but Haysom says it kept a “goodsized” crew busy.

At the Killarney Centre – an old ice arena that was replaced to allow Olympic athletes to train for short track speed skating – Tight 5’s contract called for the supply and installation of insulation for the domestic and heating systems as well as the chilled water network. The $150,000 contract was a “first-class job,” meaning all of the pipe insulation in the arena and locker rooms was covered in PVC wrap because the pipes were exposed to public view, says Haysom. The job was from September 2008 to August 2009. Alpha Mechanical Contracting Ltd. of Coquitlam was the mechanical contractor.

The contractor’s $60,000 job at the University of B.C.’s Thunderbird Sports Centre was to insulate cooling and heating pipes for one of the arenas. Another job, at the Pacific Coliseum, involved insulation wrapped in premium jackets (canvas in this case) on chiller pipes. The contract was for about $20,000. The coliseum, former home of the Vancouver Canucks, was renovated to accommodate figure skating and short track speed skating.

Haysom says while materials were never in short supply on any of the projects, the contractor had to hire a few inexperienced workers because skilled labour was scarce at times. The new workers were enrolled in the province’s fouryear heat and frost insulator apprenticeship program.

Tight 5 Insulation didn’t get rich off work at Olympic venues, but the games “probably indirectly opened the door” for the company to land other contracts in the Lower Mainland because a number of local insulation contractors were tied up on big Olympic jobs.

INDIAN HEAD CONTRACTING

Considering the hectic pace of construction in Vancouver to meet the Olympics’ tight building schedule, Indian Head Contracting Ltd. sailed smoothly through its two contracts for venues at the games. The contractor just wrapped up its second job in October for the recreation centre (known as the Southeast Community Centre on Lot 11) at the Olympic Village. It included the supply and installation of the mechanical pipe and supply air duct insulation. In addition, firestopping and electrical heat tracing for freeze protection were done.

The ductwork, including extras, came to about $50,000 while the pipe insulation portion of the job added more than $200,000. “This was a design-build project so we had to price each segment of the work out in modules,” says Jim Blair, president and owner of White Rock-based firm.

For example, Indian Head separately priced pipe insulation for: chilled and solar water lines, condensate drains, heating pipes, sprinkler pipes, the heat exchanger and the emergency exhaust pipe and muffler. In the emergency exit area of the building there wasn’t enough space to build a fire-rated ceiling so the contractor wrapped all of the plumbing lines with Quickwrap duct insulation, a firerated, ceramic-based product. “It’s the first time we’ve ever had to do this,” says Blair.

As for ductwork, the contractor priced out numbers for 1.5 inches of insulation for the air supply network and also calculated the insulation requirements for the grease (exhaust) ductwork in the kitchen. The latter required the addition of Quickwrap around the insulation to meet fire rating requirements.

Overall, the contract went smoothly, says Blair, noting that his company didn’t face any material or labour shortages on either project. Meeting the fast-track schedule posed a hurdle, however. The centre, which is in the densely populated inner city neighbourhood of False Creek, was difficult at times to get to on time, making the “justin- time” delivery schedule a challenge. “During peak construction there was a lot of roadwork and construction around us so we had to do our pre-planning to make sure our materials came on time.”

The contractor was awarded the job through an invitation to bid process. The award was based on several factors, including low bid and performance. “They wanted to make sure that the subs wouldn’t tie themselves up with other work and not be able to perform (meet their contractual agreement),” says Blair. The mechanical contractor on the project was Division 15 Mechanical Ltd.; the general contractor was Metro-Can Construction Ltd. Indian Head’s contract started in January and was completed in October.

Indian Head Contracting’s other job, a smaller one, was for mechanical pipe insulation (mostly plumbing and heating) at the Trout Lake Ice Arena. Located in John Hendry Park in east Vancouver, the arena will be used as a practice rink for figure skaters competing at the Olympics.

“It was a very well run project as well and we faced no unusual problems,” says Blair. GML Mechanical Ltd. was the mechanical contractor. DP