Concrete scanning and GPR in Saguenay

Saguenay, a city of aluminium and wood, seen from the concrete

Saguenay produces one third of all the aluminium made in Canada, according to Promotion Saguenay, which also describes the forest industry as inseparable from the regional economy. Port de Saguenay notes that the Chicoutimi pulp mill was, in the early 20th century, the largest mechanical pulp mill in the world, and that aluminium smelters developed from the 1920s onward thanks to the hydroelectric potential and the possibility of building a deep-water port. Opened in 1985, the Grande-Anse marine terminal handles, among other goods, lumber, pulp and paper, industrial salt and coal.

In the Jonquière borough, the Arvida heritage site covers 178 hectares and includes more than 800 buildings, mostly detached single-family houses built between 1926 and 1950. The Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec describes series construction: in 1926, Arvida Works started 270 houses and finished them in 135 days, notably by reusing four forms to pour the foundations, and the houses were built from 34 standard plans. Brick dominates in institutional and commercial buildings.

Nearby, the Arvida aluminium bridge, built in 1949 and 1950, is the first bridge in the world made entirely of aluminium. It links the former town of Arvida to the Shipshaw II generating station, its deck includes concrete, an aluminium alloy forms the layer separating the aluminium from the concrete, and the structure was restored in 1995 and in 2013.

Foundations poured with the same forms and houses drawn from standard plans look alike, but a reading of one Arvida basement does not apply to the house next door. Nearly a century of alterations may have changed slabs and foundation walls from one address to another: if the original standard plan is known, attach it as a reference, and plan to scan each drilling area.

In an operating aluminium or forest products plant, ask in advance for the site’s safety procedures, the work permits required and the areas where access depends on shutting down equipment.