Kicking Horse Canyon
Project Overview
Emil Anderson Construction was instrumental in Phase 4 of the Kicking Horse Canyon project. The final and most challenging stage, Phase 4 involved widening 4.8 kilometres of winding highway to a four-lane, 100 km/h modern roadway. Posing a tight timeline, active traffic, geotechnical variability—including the risk of avalanches and rockfall—and a remote location, the project was one of the largest and most complex road upgrade projects in recent BC history.
- Integrated partnership between Emil Anderson Construction, Aecon Group Inc., and Parsons Inc.—collectively known as Kicking Horse Canyon Constructors (KHCC).
- Included 14 separate bridge structures, eight of which we worked on with BASIS Engineering.
- Involved the construction of numerous downslope walls and structures located directly above the CPR mainline tracks.
- Project totalled 1,000,000 m3 of excavated material.
A Monumental Lift
“The project setup being an integrated general partnership helped give us access to a lot of company knowledge from the different groups—not just from the people physically on the project but from the support behind all of these people. Company boundaries were dropped the day we were put together as Kicking Horse Canyon Constructors. My team had people from all three companies. Having different backgrounds and being able to spitball ideas and share resources was a huge strength of the project.”
- Jason Adam, Emil Anderson Construction and Civil Manager for KHCC.
Teamwork Prevails
Collaboration between the three KHCC companies was key to the project’s success. By pooling our resources and expertise, we were able to tackle the many challenges encountered during the three-year project. Following numerous revisions to the design and planning, the project was ultimately completed on time, providing critical improvements to a vital section of highway that accommodates 12,000 vehicles each day.