WC145 NovDec 2025 - Magazine - Page 24
TOP 50 PROJECT
Cheng explains. “We look at our system and map out
what it’s doing right now and what it’s going to need to
do in the future.”
The water main’s construction over four separate
phases is a matter of project management, practicality
and logistics. “It’s difficult to build everything in one
shot,” Cheng says. “So, whatever sections we have
advanced in detail design, that’s what we put into the
ground so that we can meet our schedule.” Dividing
the project into four phases also helps ensure reliable access to workers and materials. “It’s a constant
struggle to try and get the right people to get the
work done. So far, our contractors have done a good
job managing that.”
Still, with the project’s timeline a decade out, the
imposition of tariffs on materials such as steel do present
a challenge to staying on budget. “The steel pipe comes
from the States,” Cheng says. “But we were lucky in that
we got most of our pipe delivered (for the first phase)
before the tariffs kicked in. We’ll have to monitor and
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WATER C AN ADA • NOV EMBER/ DECEMBER 2025
see what’s happening for the other sections. It’s going to
make it a little more expensive, but it’s something we’ll
have to manage.” Cheng says the project’s procurement
team is scouting for supplies either from domestic sources or from outside the U.S. “It’s something the whole
industry is looking at.” Cheng says one U.S. supplier has
manufacturing facilities in Mexico, and the project team
has already procured other materials from as far away as
South Korea.
Even without tariffs, cost containment has been
an ongoing challenge given the project’s long-term
nature. Preliminary design started back to 2016, and
COVID coupled with periods of hyperinflation have
steadily driven costs upwards. The approved budget
for the entire project currently stands at $1.66 billion,
though three sections have yet to even be started, and
only the first section, from Robson Drive to Guildford
Way, comes close to being a relatively known entity
cost-wise. In March 2023, Metro Vancouver awarded a
$97-million contract to Michels Canada Company to
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
Metro Vancouver
When the trench 昀氀oor is ready, the large steel pipe will be lowered down together with concrete anti-昀氀otation beams to add weight su昀케cient to hold it in place so it doesn’t shift or rise upwards over time.
Inset: The Coquitlam Water Main Project will install new pipes over four project phases. The 昀椀rst stretch,
from Robson Drive to Guildford Way, is already under construction.
