News & Events
Calendar of Events – View
OCPA 2010 Fall Meetings – Read article...
OCPA Awards Four Bursaries – Read more... download PDF
Transportation Minister Ignores Safety
Warning – Read more... download PDF
OCPA helps establish Chair in heavy construction at
McMaster University – Read article...
Enrico Stradiotto, P.Eng joins the OCPA as Technical Resources
Engineer – Read more... download PDF
Paul Imm, P.Eng joins the OCPA as Technical Resources
Engineer – Read more... download PDF
OCPA instructs MTO to remove name from Design
Guidelines Manual – Read article...
OCPA Scholarship Awards – Read article...
Calendar of Events
American Public Works Association
Congress and Exposition
Boston, MA
August 15 – 18, 2010
www.apwa.org
American Society for Testing Materials
C13 Commitee on Concrete Pipe
Chicago, Illinois
September 19 – 22, 2010
www.astm.org
Transportation Association of Canada
2010 Annual Conference & Exhibition
Halifax, Nova Scotia
September 26 – 29, 2010
www.ocpa.com
Ontario Concrete Pipe Association
Technical and Marketing meetings
Sept 30 – Oct 1, 2010
The Rosseau, A JW Marriott Resort & Spa
Muskoka, Ontario
www.ocpa.com
National Precast Concrete Association
NPCA 45th annual Convention
Vancouver, British Columbia
October 21 – 25, 2009
www.precast.org
American Concrete Pipe Association
Marketing, Quality and Production schools
Charlotte, NC
Jan 26 – Jan 28 , 2011
www.concrete-pipe.org
National Precast Concrete Association Show
The Precast Show
Charlotte, NC
Jan 27 – 29, 2011
www.precast.org
OCPA 2010 Fall Meetings
The Ontario Concrete Pipe Association will hold its annual Fall Meetings September 30 – October 1 at The Rosseau Resort in Muskoka, Ontario. A Block of rooms has been reserved and delegates are encouraged to register early.
Click here for details on the 2010 OCPA Fall Meetings, and click here to download the registration form.
OCPA helps establish Chair in heavy construction
at McMaster University
Twelve organizations in the heavy construction industry including the Ontario Concrete Pipe Association have pledged $1,127,500 over five years to establish an endowed chair at McMaster University. It is believed to be the first such chair in Canada.
Among the key duties of the chair will be to provide leadership in advancing innovation in the heavy-construction sector, attracting and developing talent, and contributing to the advancement of a modern and durable infrastructure in Ontario.
"This chair is a vital step in ensuring strong growth and a progressive future of our industry," said Jon Brown, president of the Hamilton and District Heavy Construction Association. Brown, along with Leo Laviolette who was general manager of the Association at the time, initiated the endeavour.
"We need to develop more intelligent infrastructure," said Ghani Razaqpur, chair, Department of Civil Engineering at McMaster. "That means more efficient, safer, and greener construction methods. It means longer lasting, sustainable infrastructure that needs less maintenance. But we need to attract and develop a pool of highly qualified engineers and engineering technicians who can provide the leadership and management skills to make it happen."
OCPA instructs MTO to remove name from
Design Guidelines Manual
November 2008 – In August of 2008 the Ontario Concrete Pipe Association instructed the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario to remove the reference to OCPA from the Acknowledgements section of the MTO Gravity Pipe Design Guidelines Manual.
It is important that the reasons for our decision be properly understood.
OCPA was part of an advisory committee made up of representatives from the various pipe industries that offered comments to MTO and its consulting engineer during the preparation of these guidelines. After the first draft of this document was published in 2004 one particular industry walked away from the process and complained to provincial politicians about unfair treatment from the consulting engineer. The consulting engineer vigorously challenged those charges at the time. Other flexible pipe industries also threatened to abandon the process. Subsequent drafts of the Guidelines were markedly different from the first draft. Among other things Estimated Material Service Life (EMSL) for steel and plastic were changed to allow steel and plastic pipe products to be used underneath 400 series highways. Effectively the Guidelines now allow for the use of concrete pipe, plastic pipe and corrugated steel pipe in all applications for gravity pipes covered by the Guidelines in diameters from 300mmm to 3,000mm. It has always been the position of the Ontario Concrete Pipe Association that different pipe systems – rigid and flexible, and different pipe materials can be used in various applications but that NOT ALL pipe systems and pipe materials should be allowed in ALL applications.
The following cautionary statement is made in the foreword of the MTO Gravity Pipe Design Guidelines Manual “The guidelines are not a substitute for engineering knowledge, experience, or professional judgment, which shall govern the applicability of using these design guidelines on any given project.” However, in Chapter 9 the following statement makes it very difficult for the engineer to exercise his professional judgment “the standard design process should only be over!ridden with justification and with the concurrence of regional planning and design inputs.” Engineering judgment should always be exercised but especially on projects that involve high traffic volumes, high depth of cover, high water table and other risk factors.
It is also noteworthy that the standards for gravity pipes used in drainage systems at locations covered by the Ontario Building Code such as the parking lot of a shopping centre or big box store are higher than the standards for the pipes allowed by MTO underneath 400 series highways.
The continued inclusion of Ontario Concrete Pipe Association’s name in the Guidelines would mislead Professional Engineers and others to believe that OCPA endorses what we consider to be a seriously flawed document.
OCPA Scholarship Awards
The Ontario Concrete Pipe Association is pleased to announce that Alexander Caspary, a fourth year Civil Engineering student from Queen’s University has been awarded the 2006 OCPA R.S. Wood University Scholarship prize of $1,500; and Megan deRuiter, a third year Construction Engineering Technology student from Niagara College of Applied Arts and Technology has been awarded the 2006 OCPA George Longo College Scholarship prize of $1,000.
Academic performance is a major factor in determining scholarship eligibility; however, other factors are also weighed. The awards recognize university and college students who have excelled both academically and in other aspects of life such as student leadership, community service and volunteer work.
This award emphasizes the concept of the quest for excellence as exemplified by the persons after whom the awards were named, Mr. Robert S. Wood and Mr. George Longo.
All applicants were required to submit their school and personal achievements, as well as write a 500 word essay based on the statement: "The importance of ensuring sustainable buried infrastructure.' We are pleased to have the award winning essays posted on our website.
Congratulations, Alexander and Megan!