Highway 407 East Phase 2

 

Client:

Blackbird Constructors 407 General Partnership, for the Ministry of Transportation, under Infrastructure Ontario's build model.

 

Project Type:

DBFM - Design Build Finance Maintain (Build March 2015 to January 2020 (5 years), Post Construction Monitoring 2020 to 2049 (29 years)

 

Cost:

$1.2 billion in design, construction and Operations, Maintenance and Rehabilitation

 

 

The Highway 407 East Phase 2 project includes the extension of Highway 407 22 km from Harmony Road in Oshawa to Highway 35/115, and Highway 418 to connect Highway 407 with Highway 401. The Highway 407 East Phase 2 will be a toll road and owned by the Ontario government.

 

Azimuth is the environmental consultant manager for the General Partnership, to coordinate the environmental tasks related to the natural environment, including fish and fish habitat, wildlife, vegetation, Species at Risk, in addition to ground water, surface water, waste management and contamination.

 

Azimuth's biologists completed baseline assessments at 46 watercourse crossings, and secured a total of five (6) DFO Authorizations, two (2) DFO Letters of Advice, and completed 29 MTO Project Notification Forms for work on watercourses. Our fisheries ecologists are completing during and post construction monitoring, and regularly liaise with MTO, DFO, and MTO for fisheries compliance.

 

Azimuth developed vegetation mitigation associated with edge management adjacent to wetland communities requiring completion of design, and restoration management of fifteen (15) year post-installation monitoring programs for approximately 37 hectares (ha) of forest and 20 ha of wetland remediated and created in Durham Region.

 

Our ecologists have implemented impact assessment studies for Species at Risk including Butternut (tree), Bobolink (bird), Eastern Meadowlark (bird), Barn Swallow (bird), and Little Brown Myotis (bat), including overall benefit and mitigation development to protect species at risk habitat. Our firm has been instrumental to the design and coordination of restoration management, during and post-construction vegetation monitoring, and breeding bird monitoring of ten (10) large grassland units totaling +/- 77 ha, as part of a Permit under the Endangered Species Act, 2007 to provide Overall Benefit to Bobolink and Eastern Meadowlark. Azimuth is also actively monitoring animal movement using wildlife cameras and confirm conveyance of wildlife such as coyote, fox, turkeys and deer using designated wildlife crossings.

 

Azimuth's hydrogeologists completed ground water evaluations to determine water taking needs for dewatering, and secured the Permits to Take Water (PTTW) for construction. We're actively completing ground water and surface water monitoring, private well mitigation and monitoring, as well as fisheries and wetland monitoring (due to interactions with ground water) to ensure compliance with MECP approvals.

 

For the duration of the project Azimuth's provided waste management and contaminated materials expertise; for the Phase II ESA and designated substances studies for remediation plans, waste and/or contaminant remediation, remedial action plans, earth management plans and risk assessments.