Materials & Construction

Materials Engineering

TREK offers a full range of soil testing services to our clients. Our testing laboratory is a vital service to our engineering operations, which allows us full control and timely delivery of testing results and provides a full range of testing of soils and aggregates using traditional tests as well as advanced test methods. We provide quality control testing of borrow and aggregate materials for engineered fills, and base and sub-base materials in the field and laboratory. Our mobile operations provide quality control testing services remotely and we have provided on-site laboratories for several long-term projects. Materials specifications for construction projects must suit project requirements and be based on available resources; we develop construction specifications, conduct borrow assessment and have developed standardized specifications for municipalities. Construction issues related to materials inevitably occur and our qualified materials technicians and technical staff can provide timely, on-site solutions.

Our services related to materials testing includes:

• Moisture Content Determination
• Atterberg Limits (Plasticity)
• Grain Size Analysis (Sieve and Hydrometer Methods)
• Unconfined Compression Testing of Soil and Rock
• Proctor Compaction Testing
• Field density testing (Nuclear densometer, sand cone)
• Sample Extruding and Visual Classification
• LA Abrasion
• Hydraulic Conductivity Testing (Flexible and Rigid Wall Permeameter)
• Consolidation Testing (Oedometer)
• Concrete sampling and compressive testing
• Quality control testing for aggregate production
• Asphalt sampling
• Testing and mix design
• Triaxial testing

Dynamic Pile Load Testing (PDA Testing)

High-strain dynamic pile load testing is a non-destructive procedure for testing piles to measure driving stresses, evaluate hammer performance, assess pile integrity during driving, and collect data for signal matching analysis for measurement of pile capacity and establishment of driving criteria. TREK owns a Pile Driving Analyser (PDA®) and CAse Pile Wave Analysis Program (CAPWAP®) signal matching software. Our personnel has more than 10 years of dynamic testing experience throughout Manitoba and Saskatchewan. We can perform dynamic testing and analysis on a variety of pile types including concrete (driven or cast-in-place), steel and timber piles. Following Limit States Design, dynamic testing provides an opportunity to reduce foundation costs by allowing for use of higher resistance factors and thus less piles, resulting in more cost-effective and reliable designs. We understand and respect construction schedules and thus our personnel have become very efficient performing the tests and delivering results to our clients.

• Dynamic monitoring using the PDA® to evaluate driving stresses, hammer performance, and pile integrity during production piling
• PDA Testing of Precast Concrete Piles, Steel H-Piles and Pipe Piles
• PDA Testing of Specialized techniques for testing Cast-in-Place Concrete Piles
• Signal matching analysis using CAPWAP® to measure pile capacity, distribution of shaft friction and end-bearing, and to confirm driving criteria
• Forensic assessments of existing piles
• On-site CAPWAP analysis to quickly resolve non-conforming piles and develop field resolutions
• Reliability-based design calibration for site-specific resistance factors (large projects) to reduce piling quantities

Construction Monitoring

Construction monitoring is key to ensuring projects are constructed following proper procedures and best practices, and satisfying specifications, design assumptions and intent. Quality assurance is an essential task to routinely monitor specification adherence, and must be diligently undertaken to identify deviations early, implement corrective action and develop alternative approaches as necessary when dealing with new or changed conditions. We provide a range of construction monitoring services to satisfy project needs.

Our construction monitoring services include:

• QC materials testing (soil, aggregates) including on-site services
• Pile installation inspection and PDA testing
• Sub-grade inspection
• Contract Administration
• Instrumentation and monitoring (settlement sensors, piezometers, slope inclinometers, vibration monitoring, soil temperature)
• Data acquisition systems to capture real-time data

Construction Observation

TREK employs quality control and assurance programs to safeguard that proper construction means and methods are used on every element of every project. We establish that construction is being performed in accordance with the project plans, specifications, best practices and to the design intent developed by our engineering professionals. We gather, analyze and measure information to verify and document that materials and methods being used meet the standards required for the project. Testing and analysis protocols are established and reviewed with all parties involved in construction at the outset of any project such that a clear understanding and expectations are established prior to beginning the work. Reports are presented daily and weekly that clearly, accurately and consistently provide a record of proper project delivery. Special methods developed or modified to meet unique field conditions are documented in specific field procedures for reference and retrieval as required. Rest assured the team at TREK will apply its experience in construction observation to ensure the product delivered meets the expectations of clients on every project.