portant element is our technical ex-
pertise, we have some people here
started as a family business and now
second generation just took over two
years ago,” says Gagnon.
Démex’s experience has certainly
been on display in downtown Mon-
treal, where the team was called on
to dismantle St. Luc Hospital. That on
its own may not seem that out-of-the-
ordinary, until you learn that it was to
be taken down in direct proximity to
St. Luc’s $3.6-billion replacement—
the Centre hospitalier de l’université
de Montréal superhospital.
The St. Luc project and the Rio Tinto
Kitimat project are perfect bookends
to illustrate Démex’s range. Location is
typically the biggest variable in a proj-
ect, and it’s hard to think of two more
different, and difficult circumstances
than in a remote, rural area with little
labor force or back up, and a densely
populated and restricted environment
of a city core.
“Some sections of the new building
are only centimetres away from the
one we have to demolish,” says Ga-
gnon. “You can imagine that we have
to take down a building where sec-
tions have a brand-new building liter-
ally within arms-reach. That will be an
interesting challenge, working on the
logistics of moving several thousand
tonnes of waste material, debris, from
downtown core,” smiles Gagnon. "But,
the more complicated a project, the
more perfect it is for us."
APRIL 2018
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