Annual Conference and Exhibition

2012 TAC conference & Exhibition

Hopewell Rocks
Photo: Department of Tourism and Parks, New Brunswick

October 14-17 ~ Fredericton, New Brunswick

Transportation: Innovations and Opportunities

technical tours

Unless otherwise specified, tours will operate rain or shine, so participants are asked to dress accordingly. Comfortable shoes are recommended as most tours will require a limited to moderate amount of walking during scheduled stops. Please note that duration times listed for each tour are estimates. Buses leave from the main entrance of the Fredericton Convention Centre. Participants should arrive at pickup locations 15 minutes prior to scheduled departure times.

Preregistration for Technical Tours is required. Space is limited.

Tuesday, October 16

TOUR A – 08:30-16:30 ~ FUNDY TRAIL PARKWAY

Fundy Trail

Photo: Tourism New Brunswick, Canada

This tour is covered by the conference registration fees.

Lunch will be provided.

Delegates will travel approximately 150 km south-east of Fredericton to the Fundy Trail Parkway (2 hour drive). Operated by a non-profit organization, the Parkway opened up previously unreachable areas of the Bay of Fundy coastline and panoramic views. The 16 km coastal parkway begins just outside of St. Martins, New Brunswick and hugs the rugged cliff top above the world's highest tides. Delegates will learn about the innovative design and construction of the low-speed auto parkway that provides stunning views from both travel directions, while minimizing environmental intrusions and impacts through the ecologically important coastal ecosystem.

Delegates will also be provided with brief site visits of other major transportation projects underway in southern New Brunswick, including the Route 1 Gateway Project, the Saint John Harbour Bridge and the One Mile House Interchange.

Photo: Master Corporal Julie Bélisle,
Canadian Forces Combat Camera.
© 2011 DND-MDN Canada

Photo: Master Corporal Angela Abbey,
Canadian Forces Combat Camera
© 2011 DND-MDN Canada

TOUR B-1 – 14:00-17:00 ~
CANADIAN FORCES BASE GAGETOWN

This tour is covered by the conference registration fees.

Located approximately 20 km east of Downtown Fredericton, Canadian Forces Base Gagetown is the second largest military base in Canada and the largest military facility in Eastern Canada. It was officially opened in 1958 as a training facility, and now boasts a 1,100 square km training area, 1,500 km of roads, 900 km of tracks, 740 buildings and some 6,000 military and civilian personnel at the main base and lodger units across New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The base and its lodger units provide full-time employment to approximately 4,500 military members and 1,500 civilians.

TOUR C – 14:00-18:00 ~ SAINT JOHN RIVER VALLEY

Photos: Government of New Brunswick

This tour is covered by the conference registration fees.

Delegates will get the opportunity to view the spectacular New Brunswick fall foliage while traveling up river along the scenic Saint John River Valley. Delegates will then visit the longest covered bridge in the world, the 1,282 foot Hartland Covered Bridge.

Located approximately 115 km north of Fredericton, the bridge opened in 1901 at a cost of approximately $33,000. The framework consists of seven small wood Howe Truss bridges joined together on six concrete piers. The bridge was declared a National Historic Site in 1980 and a Provincial Historic Site in 1999. In 2008, the bridge underwent the most extensive rehabilitation in its history. Delegates will be provided with an overview of the rehabilitation work, including some of the innovations with restoring and preserving the 111 year old structure.

TOUR D – 14:00-16:30 ~ ROUTE 8 ARTERIAL HIGHWAY

Photo: Government of New Brunswick

This tour is covered by the conference registration fees.

The 36 km Route 8 Bypass Project will be nearing completion by the time delegates arrive on site in October. This project involved the construction of a bypass around several residential communities in the Fredericton area in order to improve safety and facilitate the efficient flow of traffic. The $124 million project includes two interchanges, seven structures, wildlife fencing and truck climbing lanes. Delegates will learn about the design demands presented during the construction of the new alignment, specifically the various unique geotechnical and environmental protection considerations facing the New Brunswick Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.

TOUR E – 14:00-17:00 ~ MACTAQUAC DAM

Photo: Government of New Brunswick

This tour is covered by the conference registration fees.

Appropriate footwear is recommended, as participants will be walking up and down stairs during the tour of the dam.

New Brunswick Power’s Mactaquac Dam is the largest hydroelectric generation station in the Maritimes. It is located on the Saint John River, approximately 20 km from downtown Fredericton. Built in the 1960s, the dam is currently experiencing concrete distress due to alkali-silica reaction (ASR). The concrete is being continuously monitored, and ongoing remediation work is being carried out to mitigate the impacts of ASR.

Wednesday, October 17

TOUR B-2 – 14:00-17:00 ~ CANADIAN FORCES BASE GAGETOWN

This tour is covered by the conference registration fees.

See Tuesday afternoon tour (B-1) for description.

Photo: Government of New Brunswick

TOUR F – 14:00-16:30 ~
PRINCESS MARGARET BRIDGE PROJECT

This tour is covered by the conference registration fees.

The Princess Margaret Bridge, built in the late 1950s, is located within the City of Fredericton. During the past three years, the Province of New Brunswick has completed over $80 million worth of rehabilitation upgrades on this structure. Upgrades included the replacement of the entire bridge deck, the traffic rail system, and most bridge bearing assemblies, along with the strengthening, sandblasting and painting of structural steel. The project also included the concrete encapsulation of the bridge abutments and 22 concrete piers to address the concrete deterioration resulting from alkali-silica reaction.

Photo: Government of New Brunswick

Photo: City of Fredericton

TOUR G – 14:00-16:30 ~ TRANSIT OPERATIONS CENTRE AND FIREFIGHTER TRAINING FACILITY

This tour is covered by the conference registration fees.

The City of Fredericton has made numerous investments in recent years to address key infrastructure priorities. The $5.4 million Transit Operations Centre was completed in 2010. It provides storage and daily servicing area for the City’s current fleet of 28 transit buses and three para-transit buses, and has capacity for future growth. Delegates will learn about the various features of the building, as well as the standard operating procedures, which resulted in lower idle times, less fuel usage, and improved fleet readiness.

The City’s new Two Nations Crossing Fire Station and FireFighter Training Facility is one of the most advanced of its kind in the country. The complex includes a state-of- the-art training ground, which can accommodate nearly every conceivable fire and public safety training operation, such as residential and commercial structure fires, confined space training, rappelling, and vehicle extrication. The four story “Burn Building” can be filled with artificial smoke and has a live burn room with fires reaching temperatures of 600-700 degrees Fahrenheit. Delegates will also be provided with an overview of the classroom and driver training curriculum.

TOUR H – 14:00-17:00 ~ WINTER MAINTENANCE

Photo: Transfield Dexter Gateway
Services Ltd.

Photo: MRDC Operations Corporation

This tour is covered by the conference registration fees.

Each winter, New Brunswick receives some of the most intense snowfalls in the country. The province maintains more than 18,000 kilometers of roadway. The New Brunswick government has also entered into long-term public-private-partnership contracts with three operators for the operation, maintenance and rehabilitation of approximately 705 kilometers of four-lane highways in the province: Brun-Way Highways Operations Inc., MRDC Operations Corporation, and Transfield Dexter Gateway Services Ltd.

This tour will provide delegates with an opportunity to learn about the innovative approaches utilized by the New Brunswick Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, and its highway operators for winter maintenance. Delegates will get a firsthand look at the latest in winter operations equipment and materials for snow and ice control, including but not limited to plow trucks with pre-wetting capability, tow plows, and triple-wings; plow truck assemblies; anti-icing and de-icing materials; vehicle tracking technologies and weather forecasting tools.