Building Better Cities
The Parks, Culture, and Sports
Department of the Government of
Saskatchewan implemented an ACB
system to provide erosion solutions at
Good Spirit Lake Provincial Park, where
Cable Concrete is used to combat
heavy erosion from wind-caused
wave action along the beachfront
Our people and solutions make an
impact everywhere you look
We pride ourselves in building better cities and better
communities from the buildings in which we live and work,
to the roads that connect our cities and towns. We provide
construction solutions that include aggregates, asphalt and
paving, concrete pipe, precast and ready mix concrete.
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technologies available for soil erosion con-trol
today, IECS has performed extensive
engineering analysis and flume testing with
university laboratories that show the prod-uct’s
performance compares favourably to
loose rock erosion control measures such
as riprap.
There’s also the issue of accessibility.
McArthur says this is where an ACB system
holds a distinct advantage over loose rock.
While riprap generally discourages peo-ple
and animals from walking across it and
precludes vehicle access, the same can’t be
said for Cable Concrete.
The product’s smooth top finish allows
operations and maintenance vehicles and
equipment like lawnmowers to drive over
it, McArthur says, making Cable Concrete
easier to install and maintain. Using an ACB
system rather than riprap also increases the
potential for enhanced aesthetics and more
wildlife habitat.
McArthur points out that Cable Concrete
is manufactured to specifications that
meet federal and provincial Ministry of
Transportation standards, and it is also one
of the few ACB systems in the industry that
conforms to all relative ASTM standards.
According to McArthur, safety is stressed
in all aspects of the production of IECS
products.
“Safety is always the number one thing,”
he said. “It’s a priority, absolutely.”
Central location
IECS is owned by the company’s founder,
Louis Arvai. It is headquartered in Rodney,
Ont., which is located about 60 kilometres
southwest of London, and the company
employs about 60 people overall. The staff
at IECS’s production plant and office in
Humbolt, Sask. ranges in size from 10 to 15
people.
The Humbolt location was cho-sen
because of its central location in
Saskatchewan.
“We’re strategically located to serve
the entire province where we are,” said
McArthur.
He adds there were a number of compel-ling
reasons why it made sense for IECS to
expand into Saskatchewan.
One factor is that the loose rock used in
riprap is getting harder to find in the prov-ince.
McArthur contends that because lo-calized
sources of riprap are declining in
Saskatchewan, it’ll likely become increas-ingly
expensive to acquire over the next
decade or so. As a result, alternatives like
Cable Concrete should become more even
attractive for erosion control projects in the
coming years.
Another reason is weather. McArthur
points out that changing weather patterns
on the prairies in recent years have pro-duced
generally more winter snow and
heavy summer rainstorms. The result has
been increased flooding risks and a corre-sponding
rise in the need for erosion con-trol
solutions, he says.
“We came to Saskatchewan knowing
there was a market here, and that we could
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