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| Award winning beach in the Community Park at Parksville. |
The City of Parksville
Parksville, located on the eastern
shores of Vancouver Island, recently awarded a contract for
439 meters of boardwalk
along the ocean front of its community park to SupErb
Construction Ltd. of Nanaimo, BC.
The City possesses an abundance of natural beauty and
is world-renowned for its wide tidal sand flats and
sun-warmed salt water. Parksville beach was recently
named one of the top six beaches in North America by
Better Homes & Gardens magazine.
Parksville Environmental Awareness
As the outdoor environment is such an important part
of the city, Council
and staff are committed to achieving the
City of Parksville's
corporate values:
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Chris Erb beside 62 Fast-Tube-Staked columns, ready
for concrete. Parksville beach is on the right. |
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| Overview of the layout: the boardwalk winds along the beach
front to provide a more natural look. |
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| Rebar cage installed, ready for concrete. |
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| Placing concrete. |
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Placing concrete. |
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| Doug Bennett sets the saddle to support
the 8" x 8" cedar beam on top of the concrete. |
SupErb
Construction Ltd.
 SupErb Construction, founded in
1981 by Chris Erb of Nanaimo BC, constructs
residential, commercial and civil projects.
Chris
was involved in environmental construction long before it
became fashionable, being an EnviroHome Canada
Builder, R-2000 Builder and a BuiltGreen BC Builder.
SupErb Construction is the
island's biggest user of Fastfoot®, the environmental
concrete form. "I continually point out the advantages of
Fastfoot® to other contractors, but they won't
change", said Chris. "I don't understand
their reluctance to try something new, less
expensive and better for the environment."
Boardwalk Construction
Details
The wooden boardwalk
requires pairs of concrete support piers spaced 4.9
meters apart in width and 3 meters on centre in length. Each steel reinforced
support pier was 30" in diameter and 21" in height. A
galvanized steel saddle embedded in the concrete
supports an 8" x 8" wooden beam between each pair of
piers, and 4" x 10" beams 24" on centre run between
each cross beam to support 3" x 8" cedar decking.
Bidding to Win
Chris knew the competition for the
contract would be tight. All contractors would price out
30" diameter cardboard tubes from the same suppliers.
And the concrete, steel reinforcing, and lumber would
also be competitively priced. To win, Chris had to
come up with an innovative solution that would save
time, money and meet the City's environmental values.
Innovative Design
Chris contacted Fab-Form to see if
a fabric form was available for the 30"
diameter by 21" high columns. Fab-Form suggested
a new product 'Fast-Tube™ Staked' where
four stakes would be pre-installed on the outside of
the fabric tube with a special folding template to accurately position each stake. Two samples
and the template
were sent to SupErb for
review.
"We looked at the samples and knew
this was an excellent solution", said Chris.
"Doug Bennett, our site
supervisor, set up the samples on sand, with
install time under a minute. We had a real winner.
With cardboard, we would have to fabricate the stakes
and screw them to the tube, all this taking time."
"With Fast-Tube Staked™ we get a
column and stakes that minimizes site labour. Furthermore, this time of year we
get plenty of rain, so the logistics of protecting cardboard is a
huge issue with 325 columns
to pour. Finally we knew this would
meet the environmental values of the City as the waste
using fabric is 1/10 that of
cardboard."
"A contractor like SupErb is very
unusual", said Richard Fearn of Fab-Form Industries.
"Chris is a visionary who will try
new technology. For others it may appear risky, but
SupErb test and research, adopting new technology
when it is the best solution for
their project."
Installation
SupErb used a Bobcat® with a
backhoe attachment to dig out a
4' trench 21" deep and used a stringline to locate
rebar pins 3 meters on centre. "Installation was so fast,
the Bobcat® couldn't keep up", said Doug.
Rebar cages were set in the centre of each staked
Fast-Tube™.
Pouring Concrete
"Concrete placement was perfect",
said Chris. "We vibrated each column without problem
as the safety factor on the fabric was over 400%.
Initially we checked the concrete height with a laser,
but elevations were perfect with no movement in stakes nor fabric."
After 30 minutes, Doug installed the
galvanized saddles on top of each column.
"Stripping
took seconds", confirmed Doug, with the 1x2 stakes
being saved for future projects.
Win Win Solution
All parties win: the
City got a lower cost environmental boardwalk for it's
citizens. SupErb increased its profit margins
with a faster install, lower material, labour and
disposal costs.
 Click here for
a short video on this project.
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