McElhanney Celebrates 50th Anniversary In Alberta

None

The year is 1972; Canada and Russia hold their first hockey summit, movie lovers are flocking to theatres to watch The Godfather, and one of Canada’s most accomplished surveying firms was opening its office in Calgary. “O&G was booming,” says Walter Johnson, Executive Vice President for McElhanney Ltd. “There was a tremendous need for surveying.”

The company was founded in 1910 by Vancouver-based surveyor William McElhanney. British Columbia was flourishing as forestry and mines were being developed throughout the province. McElhanney was a big part of the economic expansion, surveying roads, power lines, land development and even the massive Alcan project in Kitimat, B.C. Over the years, engineering and other services were added as opportunities presented themselves and clients’ needs changed.

This year marks their 50th anniversary in Calgary and Alberta. In the early 1970s oil and gas exploration and development was booming not just in Alberta but offshore on the East Coast. In 1972, McElhanney purchased Dabbs Control Surveys, whose main office was in Calgary. “Dabbs was doing work in both those areas and doing some high-tech R&D related to positioning and mapping, so it was a great opportunity for McElhanney,” says Johnson. “We were involved in the oilsands boom, the development of shallow gas fields and big inch pipelines. We have several major projects currently underway in the latter, including TMX and Coastal Gas Link.”

In addition to surveying, McElhanney expanded into broader engineering services. “We are now modelling earthworks, such as the cut-and-fill operations involved in the construction of O&G facilities in order to minimize the volume of material and reduce the footprint,” says Robert Radovanovic, Regional Vice President, Prairies South and St. John’s Region, for McElhanney Ltd. “We are developing engineering design solutions to help communities plan and build transportation and other civil infrastructure that O&G projects depend on.”

McElhanney is also developing a multi-discipline approach to projects. “Traditionally, our firm was composed of surveyors and engineers,” says Radovanovic. “However, over the last number of years, we’ve taken a broader perspective on how to better support our clients, including addressing regulatory, environmental and sustainability issues. “We now have well-established teams of landscape architects, community and transportation planners, and environmental specialists, such as wetland biologists, that expand our service offerings to our loyal clients and create new market opportunities.” The employee-owned company now has a staff of over 1,300.

Evolution Of The Industry

Radovanovic notes that technology and the demands for surveying and engineering services are constantly evolving. “Overall, the increase in the amount of digital data that can be collected and analyzed is likely the largest shift in surveying and geomatics over the last 50 years. The amount of data collected during a project has increased exponentially. We now have scanners that can essentially ‘survey’ points at a rate of a million points a second while you’re driving down a road. Our fleet is one of the largest commercial fleets in Canada, with over 50 Transport Canada certified pilots who can capture high-quality imagery of project sites to provide a new perspective on planning.”

“At the same time, a huge energy transition is underway within Alberta and across the country,” says Radovanovic. “So how do we leverage the existing energy infrastructure in a sustainable way?”

As an example, traditional coal-fired power plants were generally located near a coal mine, with high-tension transmission lines delivering electricity to customers located far away. “Renewables such as solar and wind farms can leverage some legacy infrastructure, but it’s also an opportunity to map out new line routes that have a smaller footprint and lesser impact on affected communities,” says Radovanovic. “At the same time, we’re also seeing interest in looking at how legacy oil and gas facilities, such as abandoned wells, can be repurposed for the extraction of new resources such as lithium. These developments as well will require the development of new infrastructure to support alternative uses.”

An increased focus on sustainability is even affecting what would be considered traditional energy projects. “We help plan out major pipelines projects,” says Radovanovic. “Thirty years ago, the main objective was the most economical and efficient route between point A and point B. Now, a major objective is to minimize its impact on the environment and communities. This requires not only keeping up to date on the latest regulations and requirements, but as well being able to gather and manage data sets that show where impacts are likely to occur, and being able to leverage tools like Geographic Information Systems to generate alternative routes and decide between them.”

While cutting-edge technology helps, there’s no substitute for first-hand knowledge; McElhanney is proud of the fact that it operates 32 regional offices in Alberta and B.C. “One of our biggest strengths is being in the community, the size of which range from small towns to large urban centres,” says Johnson. “Being on the ground and knowing the local conditions, the people, and the community needs is a big advantage. Our projects range in size from small one-offs to the very large multi-discipline, multi-year projects that require significant resources. No matter the size, we’re proud of them all.”

The Future

Johnson expects surveying and engineering services to continue to evolve. “Ten years ago, nobody was working on renewables, but now, solar and wind farms are an important sector of our work,” he notes.

McElhanney is confident it can continue to meet the challenges by relying on their strengths.

“One of the reasons that McElhanney has been around for over a century is our ability to change with the times and a desire to be around for the long term,” says Johnson. “We continue to evolve as the market changes, but we know what we’re good at and respond quickly to clients’ needs, something that hasn’t changed.”

“Our goal is to make what was considered a good project 50 years ago into a project that will be considered a great solution 50 years from now,” says Radovanovic. “That way, our work will not only benefit clients and communities, but endure the test of time.”

To celebrate 50 years of making a mark in the Calgary community, McElhanney is partnering with TELUS Spark Science Centre to bring more moments of joy and inspiration to kids. Through their incredible generosity, alongside another matching donor, all gifts to Spark made between Giving Tuesday (November 29) and December 31, 2022 will be TRIPLED in size (up to $25,000)! That means more free admissions for families who otherwise couldn’t afford visit the science centre. Donate today or learn more: www.sparkscience.ca/give

Dear user, please be aware that we use cookies to help users navigate our website content and to help us understand how we can improve the user experience. If you have ideas for how we can improve our services, we’d love to hear from you. Click here to email us. By continuing to browse you agree to our use of cookies. Please see our Privacy & Cookie Usage Policy to learn more.