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Water Improvements drain on water resources and a financial
According to the Ontario Sewer and Wat-
ermain Construction Association (OSW-
CA), local communities are now focused
on improving Ontario’s water system.
During the last half of 2007, L.T.L. per-
formed work as the prime civil subcon-
tractor for the $14 million Ignace New
Water System project. L.T.L.’s work in-
cluded the excavations and backfilling in-
cluding dewatering for the new water
treatment plant and wetwells, installation
of about 9,842 feet of raw watermain,
crossing under railway tracks and instal-
lation of raw water intake 492 feet into
the source lake including all associated
rock removals and site restoration.
L.T.L. could receive more projects in-
volving pipe installation, due to an aging
infrastructure. According to OSWCA, be-
tween 20 and 40 percent of underground
pipes that carry water to Ontario residents
goes into the ground before it gets to taps
because the pipes are about 50 years old,
some even as old as 100 years.
Also, leakage from old pipes can cause
basement flooding, foundation erosion
and even sink holes. “Leaky pipes are a
number or large drill rigs in our fleet ex-
drain on residents,” said OSWCA Exec-
utive Director Frank Zechner.
“Leaky pipes also compromise fire hyd-
rant systems as it becomes more difficult
to sustain needed pressures and volumes
through leaky watermains.”
Directional Drilling
Six years ago, L.T.L. formed a sister com-
pany called L.T.L. Directional Drilling
Services, which focuses on trenchless con-
struction, directional and horizontal
drilling and pipe-ramming installations.
L.T.L. Directional Drilling has seen a
huge growth in oil and gas industries
across Canada.
As a directional drilling company with
specialized drilling equipment and recy-
cling equipment including the ability to
drill through rock, L.T.L.’s services have
seen a high demand in this industry.
The primary focus has been on the
installation of pipelines crossing en-
vironmentally sensitive areas, which have
restricted access to normal open- cut meth-
ods of installation. “The market will con-
tinue to grow for our company as the
pands,” MacLeod says.
Oil and gas production is a large mar-
ket for the country. According to the Can-
adian Association of Petroleum Producers,
Canada is the third-largest natural gas pro-
ducer in the world and the ninth-largest
crude oil producer.
Also, oil sands account for almost 30
percent of Canada’s total oil production.
In 1858, North America’s first commer-
cial oil well was drilled in Ontario, the
association says. According to the associ-
ation, Ontario has 2,500 low-producing
oil and gas wells, and encompasses one-
third of Canada’s oil production and 38
percent of gas production. The province
uses 570,000 barrels of refined petrole-
um and 2.6 billion cubic feet of natural
gas daily.
In 2005, four oil wells and 31 natural
gas wells were drilled in Ontario, which
produced 2,400 barrels of conventional
oil and 30 million cubic feet of natural
gas per day. At the end of that year,
Ontario’s reserves had 10 million barrels
of natural oil and 500 billion cubic feet
of natural gas. ■
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