ASPHALTopics | Spring 2014 | VOL 27 | NO 1

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Even if bridge paving jobs are sub-contracted out
to road paving companies, the projects are relatively
small, requiring less than 1,000 tonnes of paving, compared
to between 15,000 and 30,000 tonnes of paving for
the average road job. The higher cost of new bridge
construction and rehabilitation compared to roadwork
also has paving contractors concerned that the current
level of investment in road infrastructure can’t be
maintained. Greater competition for fewer jobs could
drive down prices, which would reduce the profitability
of awarded contracts.
“Contractors don’t scale up and down at the flip of a
switch,” says Regan Cox, President of Cox Construction
Limited in Guelph. “We invested to make sure that there
was capacity and some of us have 50 per cent or more
of our work going exclusively to the ministry. We’re
cognizant of the fact that a lot of our bridges are reaching
their 50- and 60-year life spans, but we also have more
registered cars in the province than 50 years ago. Also,
this winter is wreaking havoc on our roads, but our current
funding isn’t going to be able to keep up the asset.”
The province’s investment in municipal transit
developments, coupled with awarding contracts
to off-shore companies, further dilutes the funding
available for shave and pave type projects. The City of
Ottawa’s light rail transit (LRT) system, Waterloo Region’s
rapid transit project and the extension of the TTC subway
line to York University and Vaughan have all received
funding, and the Metrolinx initiative, including The Big
Move project, continues to be a priority for the province.
LRT expansions, however, require the expertise of bridge
builders, which may create a shortfall in the workforce
needed for bridge rehabilitation projects.
“Approximately $500 million of the MTO’s budget this
year went to Alternative Financing and Procurement
(AFP) projects, and eventually those payments can
eat into the whole infrastructure budget,” says Geoff
Wilkinson, Executive Director at ORBA. “We have a lot
of LRT projects planned and on the go, which is also a
consideration, because it puts a strain on the capacity
of bridge construction companies when coupled with
this increase demand for bridge rehabilitation. MTO
is aware of this capacity issue and, hopefully, will take
this into account in designing their plans.”
The MTO has tried to shift tendering to the fall and
winter so that contractors can spread out their work
over the construction season, and not have to scramble
to complete projects in the fall. While the year’s early
tenders, from January to March, are on par with last
year’s figures, this spring’s provincial budget will help
contractors plan for the rest of 2014 and beyond.
Partnerships between paving and bridge contractors,
the diversification of core business, and the dissemination
of larger projects into collaborations among smaller
contractors, will help paving operators to weather
a manageable level of budget constraint in the next
few years.
“MTO’s capital budget has grown from $750 million
to $2.2 billion in 10 years, which is unheard of in other
jurisdictions south of the border,” Gwartz says. “We’ve
been able to convey to the province of Ontario the
importance of our bridges and roads to the economy
and we’re striving to reach our performance targets
by tendering all types of projects.”
24 OHMPA | ASPHALTOPICS