The Welland Canal connects Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, enabling large ocean vessels to navigate through the heart of North America.
The Welland Canal is comprised of 8 locks: seven lift locks with an average lift of 14.2 metres, and one control lock with a shallow lift ranging from 0.3-1.2 metres.
Roberts Onsite’s millwrighting & rigging team was contracted to replace the damaged Southwest uphaul and downhaul span deflector sheaves on bridge 5 in St. Catharines, Ontario, considered to be an essential service to the Governments of Canada and Ontario.
Prior to beginning this project, our team had to investigate all aspects of the work. Some of this included reviewing the exiting site conditions, the character and extent of work to be done, the difficulties in carrying out the work, the devices and equipment required for work, and the contractual and logistical requirements.
Our millwrighting & rigging team worked to complete the slackening and re-tensioning of the operating ropes to facilitate the removal of old span deflector sheaves, the re-installation of new span deflector sheaves fabricated, machined, and painted by us, and the testing and commissioning of said new sheaves to ensure proper functioning prior to our team demobilizing from site.
It was of the utmost importance that our contracted work in no way interfered with navigation, which was scheduled to close on January 8, 2023 and reopen on March 13, 2023. Work could only happen between the hours of 7:30am and 4:30pm, with the bridge reopening at 4:30pm every night. This project was completed ahead of schedule, on budget, and 100% incident free.
