In downtown Ottawa, at Carling Ave and Preston St near Dow’s Lake, major construction works have been undertaken to develop The Ottawa Hospital’s new campus. The project consists of the main hospital building, utility lines, and a parking garage.
Aside from improving healthcare services, the construction of this campus is also expected to generate significant economic benefits, contributing approximately $2 billion to the city’s economy, creating over 4,000 full-time jobs, and producing a total economic output of nearly $4 billion in revenue.
As a part of this development, WJ Canada was engaged to provide dewatering services for Phase 4 works, where underground utility lines are being installed.
During construction, complications in the ground formation were identified in the Phase 4 area, where utility lines for the main hospital were to be buried. Groundwater conditions were found to vary across the site, creating challenges for excavation. WJ Canada was engaged to design and implement a dewatering system capable of managing these complex ground and groundwater conditions.
A hydrogeological investigation carried out by the team revealed the presence of a fault line passing through the site, which significantly influenced groundwater movement and informed the design of the dewatering system.
To effectively manage groundwater and support the project schedule, WJ Canada designed a dewatering system tailored to address the site’s complex subsurface conditions. To inform the system design, the team conducted an extensive hydrogeological testing program including well yield tests on 15 deep wells, two long-term constant-rate pump tests, and one short-term constant-rate pump test.
Based on the testing results, WJ Canada installed a comprehensive dewatering system consisting of 14 deep wells, pumps, saddles, and headworks for 15 wells, a discharge setup to safely move groundwater from the site, and a 12’’ HDPE pipeline. The system was commissioned with an initial total discharge flow averaging approximately 158 L/s, enabling effective groundwater control during the Phase 4 construction works.
The successful design and implementation of the dewatering system enabled excavation works in the phase 4 area to proceed safely, allowing the installation of underground utility lines critical to the new hospital campus. The project also featured the largest pump testing program conducted on a single site, as well as the first installation of a 12-inch HDPE discharge pipeline on a dewatering project for WJ Canada.
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