In 1959, Dale Michels and his wife, Ruth, established Michels in Brownsville, WI. Michels’ first jobs were installing natural gas mains and underground telephone lines and cables. 

Throughout the next six decades, organic growth and strategic acquisitions propelled Michels into the energy, foundations, marine, renewables, transportation, civil and water and wastewater industries. During that time, Michels expanded its global footprint, including permanent operations in Canada in 1997.

Dean Cowling, president, Michels Canada, says, “Michels Canada was founded to address customers’ needs for a construction partner to provide Canada with clean energy solutions while protecting its vast natural resources. An integral part of the Michels International Holdings, Inc. portfolio, Michels Canada initially served Canadian customers with trenchless services, including horizontal directional drilling (HDD). 

“As the business expanded, we cemented our roots in Canada by formally establishing Michels Directional Crossings Company in 1997 (renamed Michels Canada in 2006). Since then, we have built a reputation for safely completing pipeline projects; trenchless installation and other construction services, including tunneling, microtunneling, HDD and Direct Pipe techniques; and water and sewer rehabilitation. We continue to support our customers by focusing on safer, cleaner, more sustainable construction techniques to support infrastructure projects across Canada.”

Jason Squires, chief operating officer, Michels Canada, adds, “As a member of the Michels Family of Companies, Michels Canada also benefits from the comprehensive expertise gained across all industries we have served over the past 65 years, a workforce of 8,000 employees, a suite of 18,000 pieces of heavy equipment and more than 50 offices and facilities around the globe.”

“We are privileged to be a nationally recognized provider of energy and infrastructure construction services throughout Canada,” notes Cowling. “I credit the hard work and dedication of our entire team, including our field personnel, health and safety professionals, office and shop staff, senior leadership and our sub-contractors for our reputation for reliability, high quality and safety over the past 27 years.” 

Michels Canada has won many safety awards over the years, including numerous James L. Abraham Safety Awards from the Pipe Line Contractors Association of Canada.

“In 2020, we were recognized for three million exposure hours without lost-time injury or incident,” says Squires. “We are proud of each one of them because they recognize every team member’s dedication to this crucial core value and, most importantly, reflect the fact that our people are making it home safely each night.”

Cowling says, “We are equally as proud to have been honoured by the WSIB as the Gold Winner for Canada’s Best Health and Safety Culture for two consecutive years. Our management system, supporting standards and people, empowers the culture we have been able to cultivate since 1997, and we continue to work to ensure everyone goes home safely every day.”

Just a few of Michels Canada’s notable projects in Alberta include:

Duggan Tunnel, Edmonton

• Michels Canada is the prime contractor for designing and constructing approximately 3,200 metres of 1,200-mm sanitary trunk sewer, rehabilitating approximately 260 metres of the existing Duggan Tunnel and abandoning of the aging local sewers in Edmonton.

• The project overcame multiple technical hurdles that included multiple dual launch and dual retrieval shafts, changing soil conditions and complex curved drive alignments to avoid critical infrastructure. Additionally, microtunnel boring machine (MTBM) retrievals were completed under the water table in difficult geotechnical conditions.   

Riverview HDD Distribution Feeder Project North, Edmonton

• Michels Canada used HDD to install 818 metres of 36-inch diameter steel pipe under the North Saskatchewan River near Edmonton. The urban crossing was challenging in that the workspace was accessed through established neighbourhoods that lead to parks on both entry and exit. Safety and environmental sensitivities were especially important within the public spaces, and the final cleanup had a “better than we found it” result. The HDD itself was completed with sensitive noise and working hour restrictions.

• During pullback, seven cranes were used to hold the pipe at the angle needed to complete the installation. Once the steel pipe was pulled into place, the crew installed a pipe bundle inside the steel pipe. The crew also installed three 25kV cables inside three of the 8-inch pipes. A ground cable was pulled into one of the 2-inch strings. The 4-inch strings were grout lines used to secure the bundle inside the 36-inch pipe. 

• The project took about six months, finishing in February 2020.

Western Alberta System Mainline Loop
(WASML), Calgary

• Michels Canada constructed 22 kilometres of 42-inch natural gas pipeline and associated fabricated facilities on the Rocky View section of the WASML. The project used mainly conventional pipeline construction techniques with the pipe placed four feet below grade in an urban area. Two sections were completed by HDD.

• The worksite was a combination of rural and urban locations that intersected the town of Cochrane and surrounding Rocky View County in Alberta’s foothills region. Crews worked around scattered wetlands and a key wildlife biodiversity zone along the construction footprint associated with the Bow and Elbow Rivers.

• During peak construction, about 600 people were involved. Due to native grasses and other environmental concerns, crews installed nearly 11,000 wooden access mats along extensive sections of right-of-way to facilitate the movement of heavy construction equipment. A sound wall was installed on the entry side of the Bow River HDD to mitigate noise in a populated area.

Bow River Crossings, Calgary

• Bow River HDD was 1,041 metres in length, drilled using an intersect across the Bow River. Installing a 42-inch pipe inside a 54-inch borehole with a significant elevation difference of 64.4 metres made the project challenging. A previous line that was installed using an HDD years before experienced a sinkhole, so design and execution of the Bow River HDD were important to avoid these challenges that the owner had experienced.

• The project was completed using a gyro guidance system for a pilot hole intersect method on the pilot, eliminating any requirement for surface coils through the parks along the river. Opening the borehole up to 54 inches with a significant part of the HDD profile above the entry rig elevation kept an open borehole and prevented collapse, which can lead to inadvertent fluid return or release to surface – an unacceptable outcome since the Bow River is a drinking water source for more than one million people. 

• Since work took place in a park that was next to residences, a robust sound management plan was incorporated, and Michels managed the drilling spoils removal from the project within business hours to minimize traffic and noise. On-site storage and a disposal management plan was important to minimize disturbance in the urban location.  

• When the project was finished, an additional 649 metres-long HDD was completed to facilitate a future dam and flood management program in response to the devastating floods of 2013.

Squires says, “As a family owned and operated company, the success and growth of Michels and Michels Canada would not be possible without the guidance and support of the Michels family. In addition, we are fortunate to have a skilled, passionate team of people working on our projects and in our offices who all share a commitment to safety and quality. We also thank our customers for trusting us to uphold their reputations and our country’s future through the construction of safe, reliable infrastructure solutions.”

Cowling concludes, “Even as we continue to pursue projects that represent our comprehensive turnkey construction capabilities throughout Canada, we are currently focusing on showcasing our facilities and foundations construction solutions. Additionally, pipeline, HDD and trenchless construction will always be important components of what we do, and we will continue to lead the way in trenchless innovations. 

“While we cannot foresee the future, listening to our customers and anticipating their needs has contributed to Michels’ success all along. Our willingness to step up and find solutions when others say no will keep us evolving far into the future.”

 Michels Canada
1102-16 Avenue, Nisku, Alberta T9E 0A9
Phone: 780.955.2120 | www.MichelsCanada.com