Legacy Provides Fabric Buildings for remote energy project in Manitoba
When Manitoba Hydro, in conjunction with four Manitoba First Nations, put up the bid for its new Keeyask Generating Station, three contractors converged to form BBE Hydro Constructors.
BBE Hydro is constructing a seven-unit powerhouse and 25 kilometres of dikes. The job includes excavating, electrical and mechanical work, a concrete spillway, and construction and removal of temporary cofferdams. After completion, the station will provide 4,440 gigawatt-hours of hydroelectricity annually.
The site is in an extremely remote area. “Given the climate in the area and the overall scope of the job, we knew we would need buildings on location to service all the equipment and to provide general warehousing,” said John Lehman, a superintendent with Bechtel. “A lot of the temporary structures in the region are fabric structures, so we mainly looked at those types of buildings."
Legacy Building Solutions supplied two buildings clad with Nova-Shield 15-ounce, flame-retardant polyethylene fabric. Legacy added R-30 insulation with a 7.5-ounce interior fabric liner, and each building was rated to 2.5 kPa ground snow load and 0.39 kPa windspeed.
The steel frame for each fabric building was primed. The structures feature three-foot overhangs with air flow in the soffit, icebreakers, and a gutter and downspout system.
The vehicle maintenance building measures 80 by 160 feet and is used for a variety of trucks and equipment, including huge excavators and Cat 777 trucks. Legacy equipped the building with seven TNR rubber roll-up doors and 12 insulated service doors for personnel and small equipment.
The warehouse measures 120 by 150 feet. Designed for shelving and forklift runways inside, the ceiling is over 18 feet high at the sidewalls, with a peak clearance of 47 feet, 11 inches. The structure has edge-of-dock, 25,000-pound load capacity levelers with a 78-inch plate, 15-inch bumpers, and a 27-inch mechanical flip leveler, seven insulated commercial steel coil doors and 10 insulated service doors.
Legacy worked with local contractors to install the fabric structures during the harsh winter months. Both structures are expected to outlast the Keeyask project and may be used for other purposes in the future.