Welcome to the Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba Heritage Wiki Site
This site is a collection of significant engineering and geoscience related projects built within Manitoba, and around the world, by our members over the past 100 years. It also contains a collection of notable Manitoba engineers and geoscientists which have made significant contributions to the profession over its history. In addition, there is an archive of material containing association historical records such as past publications and lists of members.
As a wiki sit, we encourage your comments, corrections and additions. Please feel free to add to this body of knowledge by contributing to this site with your own past projects. If you have any comments or questions please contact us at APEGM.heritageeng@gmail.com.
There are currently 70 articles contained within this wiki site.
Featured Articles
APEGM History
Would you be surprised to learn that there were few rules governing the practice of engineering in the early beginnings of the province of Manitoba? It is not like Winnipeg was still the wild-wild west; but, the fact is Winnipeg experienced a fantastic boom during the 1890s and the first two decades of the 20th century, as the city's population grew from 25,000 in 1891 to more than 179,000 in 1921. What comes with such population growth? All kinds of changes and development! This fast paced growth was fueled by many private and public undertakings that would set the economic foundation for the province for many years to come. The river transportation system was making way for the railway transportation system. (Full Article...)
Hydroelectric Development in Northern Manitoba
The potential for hydroelectric development in northern Manitoba was identified by the governments of Canada and Manitoba early in the last century. In 1913, the Department of Mines (Canada) conducted a comprehensive geological survey of the drainage basins of the Churchill and Nelson rivers to determine the power potential of Manitoba's northern rivers. At the time, the key challenge for developing this power was a lack of available technology for transmitting energy over long distances. However, the report (McInnes 1913) formed the basis for further studies that ultimately led to the development of Manitoba's northern water power resources.
A substantial amount of planning regarding potential ways to meet the Province’s future power needs was conducted by the province of Manitoba during the 1940s and 1950s. (Full Article...)
Port Nelson
Port Nelson was a seaport along the coast of Hudson Bay, which was started but never completed a century ago. Situated in the mouth of the Nelson River it was constructed as part of a scheme by the Federal Government to help increase competition in the movement of grain out of the prairies. Construction of the port began in 1913 but was halted in 1917 due to the economic effects of World War I. The works completed to that point included a significant portion of a 2 km long man-made island, a 17 span 730 m long truss bridge to access the island, and a large custom-built dredge. (Full Article...)
Les Wardrop
William Leslie (Les) Wardrop was the principle founding partner of the Manitoba based engineering consulting firm W. L. Wardrop & Associates. He was a professional engineer with degrees from the University of Manitoba in electrical engineering (1939) and civil engineering (1947). His firm went on to become one of the preeminent engineering consulting firms of its day in Manitoba and around Canada, spanning over 50 years. (Full Article...)
James Avenue Pumping Station
Winnipeg’s first water system began in 1882 when a private company, Winnipeg Water Works Co., drew water from the Assiniboine River and distributed water by pipes to homes and businesses in the city core. The company’s intake and pumping facilities were on the north bank of the Assiniboine River at the Maryland Bridge. However, fire protection for the mainly wood buildings was inadequate, resulting in loss of life and property, and high insurance costs. In 1899, the City of Winnipeg purchased the system and began to use artesian wells rather than the foul river water. In 1904 a serious fire on Main Street threatened the entire business district and forced the City to pump Assiniboine River water into the mains. The contaminated water resulted in a typhoid epidemic with 1300 cases reported in the following days. (Full Article...)
St. Andrew's Lock and Dam
Completed in 1910, this engineering system is comprised of three elements; a dam, a lock, and a bridge. The design employed a Camere style dam and, at 240 metres long, it is the largest dam of this type ever built. It is also considered to be the only one still in existence in the world. It continues to operate to this day, regulating the water level of the Red River. It also allows river traffic to operate between Winnipeg and points downstream, while providing a link for road traffic across the river. (Full Article...)
Hudson Bay Railway
The Hudson Bay Railway is a historic rail line between Winnipeg, MB and Churchill, MB on the southwest shore of Hudson Bay. The railway was controversial from the start. The greatest controversies were in the selection of Port Nelson or Churchill for the port on Hudson Bay and the delays between constructing sections of the railway. (Full Article...)
In the News
Officials Propose to Entomb Pinawa's Old Nuclear Reactor, The Winnipeg Free Press 2016 12 12
The company charged with decommissioning the nuclear reactor at Whiteshell Laboratories near Pinawa wants to leave it in the ground and backfill it with concrete.
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) is proposing to entomb Whiteshell Reactor #1 (WR-1), rather than have it disassembled and removed from the 11,000-acre site near Pinawa in the Canadian Shield.
It would become the first nuclear reactor in Canada to be disposed of by burial. The plan is to demolish surface buildings but leave the reactor in its five-storey-deep basement and seal it with concrete grout. (Read the full article...)
Life by the Rails, The Winnipeg Free Press 2016 09 08
A quick history lesson: Macdonald was the prime minister in the early 1880s when the city’s founding fathers were loading up the war chest to convince both the federal government and Canadian Pacific Railway officials to run the main line of what would become the transcontinental railway through Winnipeg.
That main line was supposed to be built through Selkirk, at the strict insistence of the railway’s engineers, because the Winnipeg area was under water about every generation or so from flooding of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. (Read the full article...)
The Association of Professional Engineers of the Province of Manitoba is fast becoming one of quantity as well as quality, At the meeting of Council held on August 9th, 141 new members were admitted. At the time of publication of the last issue of The Manitoba Professional Engineer, there were 677 members. At the present time membership stands at 809. (Read the full article in the September 1956 edition of The Manitoba Professional Engineer.)
Another Step Forward
With the publication of this issue, the Association of Professional Engineers of the Province of Manitoba takes another great step forward...Assisted by N. S. Bubbis, P. Eng., the Association's Vice-President, who is liaison officer between Council and the Public Relations Committee, this Committee laid the groundwork for the publication of The Manitoba Professional Engineer and named G. T. Christie, P. Eng., as editor. (Read the full article in the 1st Edition of the The Manitoba Professional Engineer from July 1956.)
The Case for a Fee Increase
In the past few years, since the Association has opened an office, it has attempted to provide a service to its membership which would rank it with the leading Associations, in Canada. This was a tremendous task to undertake and the men who undertook this job are to be commended, particularly Professor Hoogstraoten, for his efforts. The work of the Association began to expand when the office was opened, and the membership has continued to request more and more service from council... It is for these expanded services that Council unanimously endorses a fee increase of $3.00 per member, to be effective January 1st, 1960. (Read the full article in the November 1959 edition of The Manitoba Professional Engineer.)
16:40, 27 February 2024 Louise Bridge (hist | edit) [10,331 bytes] Gcook(talk | contribs)(Created page with "'''CPR Comes to Winnipeg: The Louise Bridge''' In 1881, a modest steel through-truss bridge in Manitoba changed the course of Canadian history. British Columbia had joined Canada on assurances from the federal government that it would soon be connected by railway to the rest of the country. A major hurdle to completion of this lofty goal was a crossing of the Red River. The obvious candidate sites were at Selkirk and Winnipeg. <br> Sandford Fleming, the railway’s chie...")
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