Our services go from…
…”Big Picture” to “Micro-scale”, since we often are involved at the regional/site level scale of studies of aggregate, including site selection, site investigation, determination of volume/tonnage of aggregate resources, valuation of resources, planning, development of Mining Plans and Reclamation plans, Due Diligence support for aggregate property acquisition or transfer, valuation of resources and NI 43-101 reports.
Our involvement in Standards and Specifications organizations such as CSA and ASTM have provided us “front-row seats” in understanding and interpreting Standards that are used throughout the industries that use and rely upon these procedures.
Applying the test standards and understanding what the specifications are intended to address is of importance when issues or questions arise.
Laboratory Testing/Analyses
This is supported by the fine-scale, in-laboratory work that we do, with extensive experience in petrographic examination of aggregates, including sand, gravel, crushed stone, rock, building stone, rip rap / armourstone.
We have significant expertise in the petrographic examination of hardened concrete, including conducting the Damage Rating Index (“DRI”) procedure for assessing the amount of Alkali-Aggregate Reaction (“AAR”) that is observed in concrete samples. We have over thirty years’ experience in conducting the DRI, with most of that being in evaluation of in-service concrete from structures such as dams, bridges, highways, water-retaining structures, and other civil infrastructure.
Our Focus
The focus of our services is on construction materials, in particular construction aggregates, railroad ballast, and armourstone/erosion control rock, as well as composite materials manufactured with aggregates, such as concrete, asphalt. Then there are also building cladding stone, ornamental stone, and rip rap/armourstone.
EXPERTISE
1) We have considerable expertise in the analysis of aggregates and rock that contain sulfide minerals, especially pyrite and pyrrhotite. These minerals, when unstable, can result in deleterious effects in (a) the environment (“Acid Rock Drainage“, or “ARD“), (b) concrete, due to internal sulfate attack / iron sulfide reaction, typically involving pyrrhotite, and (c) pyritic heave (which could be called “sulfidic heave”, since pyrrhotite has now also been identified as contributing to this reaction.
2) Extensive experience has been obtained in litigation support relating to construction materials failures (or alleged failures), as well as disputes relating to quality, contamination, value and other aspects of aggregate and related geological materials sites. Beginning in the 1980s with sporadic litigation support, the past decades have been characterized by significant Expert Witness, litigation, mediation and related support work.
We Also Offer
Additionally, we offer petrographic examination of concrete, per ASTM C856, and we have extensive experience in AAR assessment of concrete, and in the Damage rating Index (DRI) analysis of AAR-affected concrete. We have conducted DRI analyses for more than thirty years, examining hundreds of concrete cores from projects ranging from concrete airfield pavements, to dams, bridges, sidewalks, walls and other buildings and critical infrastructure.
Success Stories
The Old Alexandra Bridge, located on Highway 1 north of Spuzzum BC (yes, that’s the actual name!), south of Boston Bar, was evaluated in 2022.
New/Proposed Aggregate Sources & Due Diligence / Valuation Support
We have supported numerous evaluations of proposed aggregate sites, including site selection, as well as Due Diligence evaluation for transactions and acquisitions. Such investigations have often been conducted at mine development sites or or new infrastructure such as pipelines or dams. This has also sometimes also included valuation of aggregate resources and NI 43-101 reports.
Ireland encountered issues with “pyritic heave” of structural fill aggregates starting in 2006/7, when these issues first arose (forgive the word choice…). I was involved in the first number of legal cases as an Expert Witness (Menolly, James Elliot, Noreside) and this work continues some twenty years later.
I have also worked on similar sites where heave of sulfide-bearing materials had occurred in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and elsewhere.