News @ Target

November 2011

Port Mann Bridge Construction Project

The original Port Mann Bridge was constructed from 1957 to 1964 and opened it's four lanes to traffic in June of that year. Original estimates of vehicular crossings in 1964 were 13,000 trips per day. With the addition of an HOV lane in 2001, The Port Mann's vehicular crossings exceeded 127,000 trips per day in 2010. The bridge became over worked and became a choke point for the flow of goods and services for the Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley markets.

On January 31, 2006 the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation introduced the Gateway Highway Expansion Program as a means to address growing congestion. The project originally envisioned twinning the Port Mann Bridge by building a second bridge adjacent to it but the project has been changed to building a 10-lane replacement bridge, claimed to be the widest in Canada, and demolishing the original bridge. The PMH1 project adds another HOV lane and provides cycling access. The plan also calls for re-introduced bus service to the Port Mann Bridge for the first time in over 20 years.

Crucial in it's Post Tension design is the use of tensioned strands which "cinch" together the structure once erected. Even more crucial is the selection of the Post Tension Grout to be utilized in the encasement of the strands to ensure no corrosion occurs, thereby weakening the support. With this in mind, Peter Kiewit/Flatiron Consortium Group put out Tenders for the supply of a premium Post Tension Grout.

The Bidding for the supply of this grout was intense as suppliers across North America vied to be awarded this contract. Kiewit/Flatiron conducted many tests and stringently evaluated all products and the overwhelming winner was Target's 1121 Post Tension Cable Duct Grout. To date, Target's 1121 Cable Duct Grout has performed beyond expectations often allowing for faster grouting of the long Post Tension Ducts.

View from the Coquitlam side of the Bridge (50% completed)

Target 1121 and Grout Mixer on truck sitting on deck of Bridge.

 

November 15, 2010

TARGET® supports BC Place

BC Place has been the centerpiece of Vancouver's Downtown core since June 1983. Since that time it has seen numerous BC Lions football games, Tradeshows, Concert Events and Vancouver Whitecaps games, but it has also been left largely unchanged since it's opening. Pavco (BC Pavilion Corporation) and our Provincial Government decided it was time for a complete renovation.  The partnership approved the funding envelope for a $365-million upgrade of BC Place, which will include a new retractable roof.

BC Place Stadium

The new roof installation required enormous base plates to support the many towers from which the new roof would be hung. These base plates require full bearing underneath as any sort of movement could cause erratic swaying of the new roof and a possible failure. PCL and Bosa Construction consulted with Jack Torok of Target Products/Quikrete for a grout recommendation. After viewing schematics of the proposed area and a thorough site visit, Jack Torok recommended Target's Flowcrete with Fume for complete repairs to the area removed when the original roof was taken away and Target's Portland Expanding Grout for the bearing pad under the base plates. Grouting operations commenced in June 2010 and were completed skilfully by Bosa Construction’s grouting crews. TROW Associates were contracted to conduct the meticulous testing on the selected Target products.

Test results not only confirmed the desired flowability of the product but also showed that the product far exceeded the published data, providing additional reassurance to the contractor, BC Pavilion Corporation and the many future guests of BC Place.

Flowcrete at top of BC Place

Installation of Base Plates at BC Place

January 18, 2010

Target's Machine Base Grout- Delta Port - British Columbia

Delta, British Columbia

February 2009 and Levelton Consultants were looking at a grout specification for grouting under the crane rails for the new third berth at Delta Port.

They needed a high strength grout that would be subject to heavy cyclical loads as the new cranes would be able to lift larger loads than their other cranes. Though scrutinizing many products, many would not meet the tight specification.

In discussion with Jack Torok of Target Products/Quikrete, TARGET Machine Base Grout was selected but not before under going analysis by various test methods. Throughout April and into May, the tests were analyzed and TARGET Machine Base Grout not only met the requirements but well exceeded them.

Grouting commenced in earnest in late April and was completed by June 2009. From all final testing that was conducted on site, the product performed admirably. Deltaport's Third Berth opened to much fanfare and business on January 18, 2010.

Existing Delta Port Terminal - 2009

Setting the plate for the Rail

Grout Mixer. Target Machine Base Grout Bags in foreground

Pumping TARGET® Machine Base Grout under crane rail

For further information on this product, TARGET® Machine Base Grout, contact Jack Torok @ 1.800.575.7700

September 1, 2008

Target's 1121 Cable Duct Grout - The William R. Bennett Bridge

Kelowna, British Columbia

The William R Bennett Bridge was constructed to be a center piece of the Okanagan's busy transportation infrastructure. Its workload would consist of greater than 50,000 vehicles daily. With the selection of SNC Lavalin to design, build, finance and operate the new bridge, immense pressure was placed upon the group of the many contractors to complete the bridge on time, on budget and with emphasis on quality construction to allow the new bridge to perform a long time in service.

With this in mind, one of the key components of the design was to have a high quality Post Tension Cable Duct Grout utilized for grouting in the duct work as well as tendons in each of the pre cast concrete sections. To qualify the various manufacturers' grouts that existed in the market place, testing had to be conducted.

After reducing the list to three quality manufacturers, the grout was tested in real world trials. Harris Rebar, in co-operation with Target's Jack Torok and Richard Atkinson, commenced testing at Vancouver Wharves in North Vancouver . Harris Rebar was responsible for grouting and was therefore responsible for full testing of the final selected grout. Target's 1121 Cable Duct Grout not only showed superior flowability characteristics, but was the only grout that could completely fill the ducts without leaving any void space as well as fully encapsulating the steel strands it also or showed no sign of bleed water, even under high pressure grouting.

Kelowna Floating Bridge Construction - Sept 2007

Viewing Outflow Valves on Pontoon 7

William R. Bennett Bridge in use September 2008

In the myriad of different products used for the construction of this bridge, the Target Brands included: Target Portland Expanding Grout, Target Aquaplug, Target Sacking Mix, Target Silica Sand, and Target 1121 Cable Duct Grout. For further information on any of these products, contact Jack Torok @ 1.800.575.7700

February 8, 2008

Acquisition of TARGET® Products Ltd. enables The QUIKRETE® Companies to expand into Western Canada

Abbotsford, British Columbia

Target Products, Ltd., the leading producer of dry mix concrete and cement related products in Western Canada, announced today that it has been acquired by The QUIKRETE® Companies, North America's largest manufacturers of packaged concrete.

"The QUIKRETE® Companies are known for offering superior quality, product depth and distribution capability," said Neil Duke, former principal of Target Products. "We are excited about the opportunity to contribute to the continued growth and availability of this highly respected brand in the Canadian commercial building and home improvement industries."

More...

New use for proven product - Portland Expanding Grout

Campbell River, British Columbia

International Construction Services, contracted by the Sonora Lodge in Campbell River BC were working on a deck for their resort. After speaking with Target's Jack Torok, the product Portland Expanding Grout was recommended for the tops of the columns (as a leveling base) and also between the pre-cast panels to fill the space between the panels. Installation was successful and progressed slightly ahead of schedule. Portland Expanding Grout is working very well for International Construction Services. Here are some photographs of the completed project.

 

New Product - Vertical Overhead (V/O) Repair Mortar

A long awaited product, Target's new Vertical/Overhead Repair Mortar has been in formulation and testing for over three years. Helen Zeng (R& D Senior Materials Engineer) had managed to formulate a product that was sticky enough to be applied overhead yet still be workable that it could be troweled and finished to a smooth appearance. The question... were there enough sales to justify it's existence?

The answer came by way of a phone call from Phil Beedle, Senior Construction Engineer from BC Hydro to Jack Torok (Target's Industrial Sales Technical Representative). BC Hydro's power station, The Cheakamus Power Generating Station, 10 kilometers west of Squamish, was constructed in 1959 to supply the timber mills of Squamish and send excess power to Vancouver. By 2005 it had grown to supply power to the entire communities of Squamish, Whistler and still send excess power to Vancouver. Unfortunately the exterior of the plant was left largely neglected and was in bad need of refinishing. BC Hydro originally bantered around Shotcreting the wall, but this would be next to impossible considering they are situated on a salmon spawning river. The V/O Repair Mortar made perfect sense. The first trial of the V/O Repair Mortar was done in October of 2004 on an exposed concrete wall at the plant to determine if the product could withstand a cold winter along with the varying temperatures that occur in that valley. After a site visit in January and again in May, the product came through with flying colours. BC Hydro was sold on using the V/O Repair Mortar. They ordered up 5 pallets of the material and began and completed the entire job in little over a week. The application crew stated that they have never used a product that mixed up as easy and was as quick to use with excellent results as Target's V/O Repair Mortar.

 

Target solves underwater grouting problems in San Francisco Bay

San Francisco, California

San Francisco is a beautiful city famous for both the bay it is named after and the bridges that cross it. As is the case with all bridges, particularly those over salt water and in very active seismic areas, these structures needed upgrading. The longest of these bridges is the one between Richmond and San Rafael. The upgrading of this structure is a $450,000,000 U.S. project that requires an extraordinary amount of work on the piers below the low tide line. This is an environmentally sensitive area and the work had to be carried out while the bridge was still in service. To address these and other problems the owner developed a specification for the grout required in the annular space between the existing pier and the new seismic collars. Target Products got the call to design a grout to meet that design specification and the placability requirements of the contractor. The result was Target Anti-Washout Grout.

Target started supplying material in September of 2001 and will continue until this phase of the project was complete, in 2004.

 

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