IQALUIT
The company responsible for installing the thermosyphon foundation system underneath Iqaluit's sinking RCMP detachment says it doesn't bear the blame for the building's foundation issues.
A photo of the thermosyphon system beneath Iqaluit's RCMP detachment being installed in the rain on July 18, 2006 by Arctic Foundations of Canada. The company's owner alleges the pipes were attacked causing the building to sink. - photo courtesy of Arctic Foundations of Canada
|
"It seems to suggest there was a failure of the thermosyphon system and that's not the case," said Bill Watt, technologist and partial owner of Arctic Foundations of Canada, the company subcontracted for installing the thermosyphon system. Watt said the systems have been put in "very successfully" all over the Arctic and that something has happened in the case of the RCMP detachment not attributed to the company' work – he suggested instead the RCMP's thermosyphon system may have been maliciously attacked.
"Somebody blew off the refrigerant in a couple of syphons and filled them with water," said Watt. "Two of (the pipes) were dead and in fact full of water."
Public Works and Government Services Canada could not confirm or deny the cause of the damage to the system since its investigation is ongoing.
"PWGSC and the RCMP are currently in the process of investigating the presence of water in two of the loops, which caused pipes to freeze and in turn caused some shifting and downward direction in a limited area of the floor," said Shannon McCourt, regional manager of corporate communications with Public Works and Government Services Canada. "One of the affected loops has since been brought back into service, and we are working on a long term solution for repairs."
Watt said while it was well-documented the area at the base of the plateau on Federal Road close to town where the detachment stands is a damp, marshy area, the fact that the pipes had frozen and bulged five feet above ground-level must have been done by someone, not by natural factors. He said the wet location is not the reason for the detachment now settling incorrectly, although it does not help.
"We warned them. Water is not good for a thermosyphon; it puts an awful lot more load on the system," said Watt, adding the drainage ditch close to side of the RCMP building is "constantly plugged" and since construction, has only deteriorated, creating more water against the building.
"But the system has certainly been put in conditions like that before," said Watt. "You just have to be aware of those conditions and engineer around it. They haven't done the kind of drainage around the building that was recommended."
Thermosyphoning is a method of passive heat exchange that works by circulating liquid without the necessity of a mechanical pump. The system underneath the new $18-million RCMP detachment was installed in 2007 with the cement pad and given two years to form in order to ensure water did not migrate beneath the pad and create any heaves or frost boils. The RCMP moved into the new building on May 31, 2010.
"The idea was because it was such a wet condition it would give the pad time to be completely frozen. If you go to build on an unfrozen pad, as it freezes up you can get some kind of movement," said Watt, adding the company also installed the thermosyphon systems in Inuksugait Plaza near the detachment.
The government is not placing the blame on Arctic Foundations of Canada.
"The installation of the thermosyphon system was performed in accordance with the specifications and drawings with no issues identified during construction and subsequent inspection of the system," said McCourt.
