Sep 24 2025
University of Alberta Faculty Club (11435 Saskatchewan Dr NW, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G9)
TAC Alberta Chapter Talk: Geological and Geotechnical Conditions for Microtunneling in Jacko Lake
Wednesday, Sep 24, 2025 at 5:30 PM to Thursday, Sep 24, 2026 at 8:00 PM MST
University of Alberta Faculty Club, 11435, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2C5, Canada.
Topic: Geological and Geotechnical Conditions for Microtunneling in Jacko Lake
Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Presenter: Bertus Vos, MBA, P.Eng, Principal Engineer, BlueFox Engineering
Location: University of Alberta Faculty Club (11435 Saskatchewan Dr NW, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G9)
Time: 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Registration Cost:
$10 - TAC Members
$20 - Non-members
$5 - Students
Presentation Overview:
The Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMEP) extends from Edmonton, Alberta, to the Westridge Marine Terminal and the Chevron refinery in Burnaby, British Columbia. The expansion is essentially a twinning of this existing 1,150 km pipeline and involves the construction of 980 km of new pipeline, 193 km of reactivated pipeline, 12 new pump stations, 19 new tanks, and three new berths.
The Jacko Lake area along the TMEP alignment, located in Kamloops, British Columbia, was identified by Indigenous groups as a spiritual and sacred location. To minimize surface disturbance, the new pipeline installation in the Jacko Lake area was completed with trenchless technologies, including microtunneling and horizontal directional drilling. The geotechnical investigations for the trenchless design and construction in the Jacko Lake area included geological and geotechnical background study, detailed geotechnical site investigation and geophysical surveys, geotechnical instrumentation and monitoring, and extensive laboratory testing programs. Challenging geological conditions included rock of varying strength and fracturing, clay, sand and gravel layers under muskeg terrain, and fault zones along the tunnel alignment.
This presentation provides an overview of the geological and geotechnical conditions for the microtunnelling design and construction in the Jacko Lake area.