Cord is the Engineering, Procurement and Construction Contractor for the Edmonton Terminal and 12 pump stations included in the Trans Mountain Expansion Project. We recently connected with Cord to learn more about the company, job opportunities and the work to be carried out.
What’s your process for hiring the construction crews and related workers who will be building the Trans Mountain Expansion Project?
Cord is an equal opportunity employer. The scope of our work drives us to target skilled (ticketed) workers from first-year apprentices through journeymen and foremen. Our process includes a very strong local and Indigenous hiring focus for multiple reasons, including commercial returns to the communities engaged in the Project, reduced travel risks by using workers and sub-contractors living close to our construction sites and creating a sense of pride among the respective work forces, which results in improved quality.
We have dedicated human resources staff and an Indigenous engagement team that research local and Indigenous labour sources and identify skilled workers who can bring value to our project delivery.
Tell us a bit about your company’s history and its experience with energy infrastructure construction.
With more than 42 years of experience, Cord has evolved to become a leader in industrial construction across Western Canada. We have delivered fabrication, modular construction and field installation services to some of the world’s most technically challenging oil, gas and pipeline facilities, power stations and other industrial infrastructure — consistently delivering projects on time and within budget. Our terminal and pump station experience is among the most extensive in Western Canada — with construction experience on more than 50 similar pump stations and work on terminals that includes more than 30 million barrels of storage.
Describe the work you'll carry out.
Our scope of work is comprised of three main areas:
- All the work at the Edmonton Terminal, including four new large storage tanks, interconnections to the existing Trans Mountain infrastructure and the mainline pump station that initiates the line flow
- Between Edmonton, Alberta and Hope, BC, 11 new pump stations for the Expansion Project, one new pump station in BC for the existing pipeline, new pipeline trap sites and modifications to existing pump stations, including demolition work
- The control and communication infrastructure required at the 89 remote mainline block valve sites required for the system, including both the new pipeline and enhancements to the existing line
In each of these areas, our work will include installation of environmental and safety controls to ensure stations operate safely with minimal impact to the environment, site preparation and grading, interconnection piping and valving for control of the various systems, and the electrical and instrumentation controls systems necessary to ensure the system operates with the planned reliability and flexibility.
Cord’s experienced teams self-perform the majority of this work, although certain components will be sub-contracted, such as the civil and earthworks scope, painting and coating, insulation and a host of specialty sub-trades.
Do you have any particular engineering challenges that require innovative solutions?
In conjunction with our parent company, Worley, we have designed several hundred pump stations, with a large percentage of those being across Western Canada. Our engineering teams have the specialized experience coupled with the local knowledge necessary to resolve the numerous technical challenges of a project of this magnitude. We’re implementing controls to protect the environment, systems to safely and reliably operate remote sites and we are resolving the geotechnical and civil engineering issues associated with construction at mountainous sites. We’ve developed innovative applications of proven technologies, ensuring the safety, functionality and performance of the completed pipeline system are world class.
The variability and challenges of working in a mountainous environment on a multi-site long-distance linear project requires well-engineered and planned execution strategies and solutions. Key challenges include weather, logistics of working simultaneously on multiple construction sites and local terrain. We have flexible plans to appropriately and safely address any challenges we meet and, through our parent company, we have ready access to the world’s leading industry resources.
Can you tell us about your company’s values?
Our mission statement: We help our customers meet the world’s changing resources and energy needs.
Our core values are Leadership, Relationships, Agility and Performance. We define them like this:
Leadership
- Energy and excitement
- Integrity in all aspects of business
- Minimum bureaucracy
- Committed, empowered and technically-capable people
- Delivering profitable sustainability
Relationships
- Open and respectful
- A trusted supplier, partner and customer
- Collaborative approach to business
- Willing to challenge and innovate
- Seeking enduring customer relationships
Agility
- Smallest assignment to world-scale developments
- Comprehensive geographic presence
- Global expertise delivered locally
- Responsive to customer preferences
- Optimum customized solutions
Performance
- Industry leadership in health, safety and environmental performance
- Delivering on our promises
- People accountable and rewarded for performance
- Innovation delivering value for our customers
- Creating sustainable value for our shareholders
Tell us about your commitments to worker and public safety and environmental protection.
The health and safety of our workers, the safeguard of all new and existing property and the protection of the environment is our top priority, as outlined in our corporate vision of “zero harm to people, assets and the environment.” As our CEO, Andrew Wood, states: “There is no job worth doing if we can’t perform it safely.”
Our stringent health, safety and environmental (HSE) expectations are vital, integral elements of our business. These expectations are deeply embedded in our leadership team, all of our systems and processes, and influence everything we do.
Our approach to safety and the environment is aligned with international best practices and our performance has proven us a leader within our industry sectors. However, we are not satisfied with being comparable to our peers. We are constantly looking for ways to take our practices to a next level.
We continuously engage our people in the process of safety and environmental education on two fronts:
- Ensure they understand their role and impact they can have on ensuring the safety of themselves, the public and the environment
- Gather their input and ideas to enhance our current practices, ensuring we are current and relevant to the tasks being undertaken
We also work closely with our contractors and our suppliers to ensure they understand our expectations and work as hard as we do to create an environment of zero harm. Our sub-contractor on-board program is rigorous and demanding because we want to ensure their goals align with our drive for zero harm.
Finally, we remain current with the latest legislation and industry best practices through a host of memberships, industry-sponsored training programs and continual review and improvement sessions. We are proud to say we have been recognized by the Province of Alberta for our exceptional HSE performance with an invitation to join the provincial Partners in Injury Reduction program. Together, we believe we can accomplish our goal of zero harm to people, assets and the environment.
