Dawson Civil has enjoyed playing a significant role with the construction of the new Dawson International Truck Centres dealership located at 3953 Highway 97 North in Kelowna, B.C.
“It feels really good to be involved in a project like this, working closely with another Dawson company with a new building that will have an everlasting Dawson legacy for decades,” said Stephan Besner, a Quality Control Technician with Dawson Civil.
Before much of the construction even began, a wet winter turned the construction site into a giant mud pit with no great access points for our companies or other subcontractors to enter the jobsite. Each day, Dawson Civil was tasked with grading and maintaining a new road around the site.
Shortly after ground broke last summer, Dawson Civil arrived to start stripping the old dirt at the new location. In order to form the new foundation, excavators were brought in to remove all the clay, dirt, gravel, old asphalt and old structures prior to installing different layers of solid subbase, both subgrade for the building and subgrade for the parking lot.
Certain regions in B.C. have a unique aspect in their terrain that will release radon through the ground. Dawson Civil removed the old rock, installed washed drain rocks, cover that rock with a poly plastic liner before pouring concrete for the new foundation. Vents in the concrete allow the radon to safely escape from underneath the foundation.
Further excavation was needed before Dawson Civil could begin installing different lines and pipes.
Pipe layers and skilled laborers worked hard to get all the water lines, storm line and sanitary lines set in place. The last water lines recently got tied in, giving the building access to running water. The sanitary lines will be connected shortly, with the storm work (drainage and catch basins) to be tied in later this month. The excavation work required to install some of the main lines was technically proficient, as operators stickhandled equipment inside office walls, and around buried utilities along the frontage to get the lines in place.
“The weather didn’t cooperate with us at first, but we have a great team out here that’s working well together, communicating with one another and things are going along quite nicely. I think this building is going to turn out great for Dawson International Truck Centres and we are proud play a role in its construction,” said Erek Boake, a Foreman with Dawson Civil.
Working from the inside out, Dawson Civil will soon begin prepping the parking lot for paving.
Electrical lines for the parking lot lights need to be installed, along with the lamp bases and poles. Once those are set, operators will use graders to evenly cover the parking lot with three-inch subbase to the required specification, ahead of compaction testing. Once that is approved, further grader work will be required to spread around 19-millimetre crush – the final layer of gravel before new asphalt can be laid down later next month.
Construction is on schedule and Dawson International Truck Centres is looking forward to welcoming customers later this summer.
If you wish to work for a company that works collaboratively on exciting new projects, then check out a list of our current openings on our Careers Page.