Weir Canada recently won the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC) Steel Design Award of Excellence in the Industrial Category. The CISC Awards are held every two years to promote the structural steel industry within the Alberta region and across Canada. The awards recognise exceptional talent and ingenuity in steel design and the innovative use of steel in addressing a variety of construction challenges. The theme for this year’s event was “Leading and Shaping Our Future.” Weir Canada shared the honour with Suncor Energy, Hall Marine, Supreme Steel and Midwest Constructors for their collaborative efforts in the design, supply, delivery and launch of three Multiflo reclaim water barges at Suncor’s oil sands operations in Fort McMurray, Alberta.

The Multiflo reclaim water barges form an integral part of the tailings management system at Suncor. Weir Canada’s role was one of project leadership and engineering design, in addition to overall management of the efforts of its collaborative team of suppliers and customer. The TRO water barges represent one of the largest pumping installations in the oil sands, and they began operating in autumn 2012. “Effective team collaboration, demonstrated creativity, innovation and co-operation in solving formidable design and delivery challenges is what made this project successful,” said Peter Pavlin, Engineering Manager – Engineered Products, who accepted the award on behalf of Weir Canada. “Weir Canada’s modular approach to barge technology allowed us to take quantum leaps forward in barge systems technology…we provided our client with a functional asset, delivered in a timely and efficient manner.”