In the Fall of 1997 an inquiry from CIBSE was directed to us from the London HQ of the I.Mech.E. (The I.Mech.E. provides administrative coordination between our Group and the UK headquarters of all the sponsoring Institutions.) After some discussion we obtained a CIBSE members list and, in December 1997, the Hon.Sec., Bob Martin, sent a letter to the 33 CIBSE members in B.C. asking them if they would like to become part of WCGCE. By mid January 1998 we had a positive response from 14 of the contacted members and no negative replies. This was communicated to London and by February we had a confirmation from CIBSE that they would participate as a sponsoring Institution. We look forward to seeing members of CIBSE at our technical meetings and social events and we hope that soon we may find representatives of this Chartered Institution taking an interest in the committee work that is so vital to our activities.

Reports of our annual general meeting have been issued under separate cover and you can read reports of our continuing technical program in this newsletter. I am happy to note that attendance is generally trending upwards with a showing of nearly sixty members and guests for the May insight into a part of Vancouver’s burgeoning movie industry. The April visit to the salt water pumping station, one of the City of Vancouver’s most important emergency facilities, provides us with material for a feature story in this issue.

These events give our members an insight into engineering activities that have a wide technical interest as well as intense social and regional value. I hope you will continue to support them whenever you can.

Looking to the future, next month we will be able to enjoy another of the very popular annual telephone inspections and barbecue events at our immediate past chairman’s home in North Vancouver. Our committee is working on another series of technical events for the fall and winter season, and we welcome any suggestions or new ideas for visits, lectures, or social activities that may strengthen our service to our members and support the objectives of our sponsoring Institutions.

Alan Kay, P.Eng., C.Eng., M.I.C.E., Chair 1998

A vital job of any City is to prepare for possible disaster. The City of Vancouver let us examine one such project in this seismically active home to many of our members and most of the institutions and businesses on which we depend.

The sun shone on twenty members and guests while Kevin Van Vliet and Lieutenant Phil Delgiglio opened our eyes to a project vital for the City of Vancouver’s emergency planning. An introductory briefing took us through the analyses of recent earthquakes in the cities of Loma Prieta and Northridge, California, and Kobe, Japan which had focused on the damage inflicted on essential water services by these events.

Mr. Van Vliet noted that more recent earthquakes have underscored the importance of developing capacity to fight fires following earthquakes. This is the rationale for the City of Vancouver to allocate funding (some $48million) to an emergency water system capable of surviving a major earthquake and supplying a very fast response for the suppression of fire in the down town area. We visited the False Creek pump station, the first of two that will serve this need.

Completed in 1995, the False Creek pump station is unobtrusively set into a area of gently rising land in David Lam Park at the foot of Homer Street. It is the first of two pump stations to be commissioned by the City Engineering Department. Learning from the recent experience in San Francisco, Kevin Van Vliet explained, the City’s engineering team developed what they call a Dedicated Fire Protection System (DFPS) for the downtown area of Vancouver. In normal times the DFPS will pump water from the city's regular supply to boost the capacity of the existing fire fighting systems. In the event of a catastrophic disruption of the normal (fresh) water supply, however, the DFPS will draw on the inexhaustible reservoir of the ocean - from the waters of False Creek, and from the second pump station at Coal Harbour. The capacity of the emergency system is some 20,000 imperial gallons per minute of water delivered at high pressure to the fire crews.

A side benefit of this project has been to allow the City to defer for about 30 years about $20 million in water main capacity upgrades.

Lieutenant Delgiglio outlined the on-going work of the Fire and Rescue Services Department in preparing for the connection of 5" diameter fire hoses to a temporary system of above ground "water mains" to deliver water to the fire scene. Each of these hoses can supply the equivalent of a City fire truck connected to a standard fire hydrant. The DFPS will free up capacity from the existing fleet of fire trucks to deal with other emergencies. The capacity and range of the water supplied by the fire fighting equipment at this pump station was demonstrated for the WCGCE. At 200 psi the sight was as spectacular as it was reassuring for all of us who depend upon the City of Vancouver for humanitarian and economic support services.

Conceived early in the decade, the plan includes the Coal Harbour Pump Station, recently completed at Hastings and Broughton Streets, see below.

The detailed engineering for the dedicated water main is now in progress and the complete system is scheduled to be operational in 2004. Now that there is pump capacity, parts of the system will be available to help in emergencies as the lines are completed. Earth scientists from the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) were consulted to help establish the seismic parameters for the DFPS design.

While touring the False Creek Pump Station we were given a comprehensive briefing of the design and practical features of the facility. A critical factor in the design of the pump stations was noted to be their need to survive a major seismic event in a fully operational state, not merely in a state safe for evacuation. This consideration demanded great attention to the details of survivability of the structures and interconnections in the design. It required that the system start without external power and operate for several days without external services. The pump stations will be self sufficient in fuel.

The pump stations are connected to the local power authority's 600V - 3 phase distribution grid for normal operations. When this system is disrupted, an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) will immediately power all required emergency systems, with a four hour capacity. An emergency generator, with full station capacity, is connected to the power system through an automatic transfer switch. When the generator functions normally, the UPS carries the station load briefly while the generator starts automatically and stabilises. Then the transfer switch selects the generator supply, which has fuel capacity for four days operation. If the generator is damaged too severely to operate, a third power connection is available through a large "extension cord" that can be connected to one of four portable emergency generators that are maintained by the engineering department.

Two vertical turbine pumps are driven directly by two 1600 hp diesel engines. Each of the five stage pumps can deliver 5,000 igpm at 300 psi at their peak design speed. They draw directly from a large reservoir beneath the pump floor and within the pump station.

The pump station reservoirs can draw their water supplies from any of three independent sources the first of which is the City’s mains. If the city supply is insufficient, the reservoir can be maintained by drawing on an ocean intake. In the event of the sea water suction being damaged, a connection can be made to any one of Vancouver’s available marine fire tenders which could then be used to maintain the reservoir at the pump station.

The nerve centre for the system is located at the False Creek station which also acts as a city-wide emergency information centre. The control centre can manage all services encompassed by the DFPS by means of a PC computer based system. Each pump station has two completely independent control systems. The False Creek control centre is linked to the remote facilities by a 900 MHz radio communication system . Local control is also possible should communications be interrupted. Pipeline status monitoring is provided to ensure that damage to any part of the mains system can quickly be detected and relayed to the Fire Department personnel.

The main water transmission system provides a "skeletal" grid coverage for the area served by the DFPS. The steel (oil and gas quality, butt welded) mains are 24" diameter. The "skeletal" mains are laid in seismically conditioned soils and will deliver a 200 psi discharge pressure at the hydrant. The hydrants supply a system of temporary, above ground, mains laid out by special hose tender trucks operated by the Fire Department. These 2,500 ft hose mains are capable of delivering 1000 igpm to the fire scene. Special fittings are used at all pipe transition points such as where the pipe enters or leaves a pump or valve station. The fittings are designed to minimise stresses in the CSA Z662-94 standard pipe from seismic movement, and backflow protection for the connection to the City supply is provided.

The valve stations are equipped with high performance, industrial butterfly valves in combination with DC electric valve actuators. Power is supplied through a duplexed, safety breaker interconnected, power feed that is installed in ducts along with the pipeline. The power system can be fed from either the Coal Harbour or the False Creek Pump Station power systems. UPS systems in each valve chamber, provide the third level of back up. A fibre optic cable will be installed with the pipeline to provide a communications backup for the communication system and local phone service.

Controlling All That Pressure

A challenge for Lieutenant Delgiglio and the personnel at the fire scene is controlling the pressure from the high pressure mains. Traditionally this has been done by means of a "Gleason" valve, developed by the San Francisco Fire Department in 1912. This is expensive (about $4,600 each, was the figure noted). Also, because of its weight, two people are normally required to handle it. In an emergency trained personnel are scarce. The DFPS project team felt there had to be a better way. So the Vancouver City Engineers worked with the Fire Department personnel to pressure regulating valve. The new "Vancouver Valve", shown below, is lighter and cheaper than the venerable Gleason Valve. And it still allows the fire fighter to switch safely and quickly from low pressure, for above ground flooding of the hose system, to high pressure for supply of water to the fire scene.

The Vancouver Valve, we were told, can easily be handled by one person. When the streets are blocked with debris and volunteer teams have to replace the fire trucks to lay out the hoses, the time of a trained person can make the difference between survival and loss.

The first event of 1998 was our Annual General Meeting and annual dinner dance. The minutes of the AGM, at which your present committee were elected, are being distributed under separate cover. An excellent dinner and convivial evening of conversation and dancing was enjoyed by 57 members and guests. Again we record our appreciation to Jack Bibby, long time supporter of the group, for arranging this popular annual social event.

Nineteen members met at the facilities of the Pacific Marine Institute in North Vancouver. This was our first technical visit of 1998. Unfortunately Captain Bob Kitching, Associate Dean, was not able to guide us as had been arranged, but his place was ably taken by Ms Joy Thomson, Marine Engineer, First Class and senior lecturer at the Institute.

The marine institute is operated by the British Columbia Institute of Technology. It provides design a new theoretical and practical training for the certification of marine personnel, principally those who sail in the coastal waters of the Pacific. Occasional batches of offshore students have also been trained at the institute.

Ms Thomson took us through the navigational simulator rooms where up to three students at a time are able to perform navigational manoeuvres in simulated marine traffic and other hazards. Severe weather conditions, extreme tides, and emergencies can all be factored into the data received at the navigational terminals. We then visited the engine room where several marine diesel engines, fuel systems, oil storage tanks, compressors and other equipment are installed. We were told that the use of this area has been curtailed due to staff change. At least the students can see some of the types of machinery still in use.

Three seagoing personnel were preparing for their examinations while we were on tour. However, we were told that the owners of the ships that use Canada’s coastal waters are finding alternatives to the use of Canadian pilots. Also the technological revolution on the bridge decks and in the engine rooms has cut opportunities for personnel throughout the sea-faring world. These circumstances are being felt in North Vancouver. The facility is operating at significantly less than its former capacity.

Several members expressed sadness that a centre of shipping such as Vancouver should have a declining need for marine training of the type offered at the Pacific Marine Institute. We appreciated the opportunity to visit the institute and hope that BCIT can find ways to revitalize this well established resource on the North shore.

11 March - Genetic Engineering

Dr. Bill Gibson, Vice-President, Academic Affairs at Capilano College, sparked the interest of thirty members in his fascinating introduction to a subject that has on occasion (the cloning of Dolly) rivaled the Internet in press space. Dr. Gibson started by finding out what we knew of his subject. Then set about filling in some of the enormous holes using analogies from "our world". Illustrating his points with overheads, he drew a parallel between:

• a set of manufacturing blue prints and the set of genetic material we have from conception;
• the individual drawings that make up the set of blue prints and our 23 chromosomes;
• the detailed information on each drawing and the genetic information contained in each chromosome.

Even the backup systems we have in the engineering world have a parallel in the genetic world where there are duplicate sets of chromosomes. Hey! he speaks our language! From here, Dr. Gibson explained what a gene is, and more important, what it does - determining our hair pattern, the form of our ear lobes, whether we can roll our tongues or not, whether we may suffer certain diseases, whether we are innovators or not, and so on. He did not shrink from touching on the controversial aspects of this subject.

There were many questions as the talk developed and focused on some of the hugely important ethical issues. To what extent should we use the knowledge we have to determine defective genes, and what do we do about it when we find them? Should we use genetic engineering not only to fix but to improve existing forms of life (crops, milk production, human eyesight). Should we use genetic engineering to create new life forms (bacteria to clean up oil slicks - can they be controlled?). Should individuals be able to patent these genetic developments? And who should determine the answer to these questions?

As we go to print we read reports that Prince Charles has written to the Daily Telegraph to express concern about some of these issues, and The Economist mentions that Monsanto is spending massively in Europe to present their arguments in the debate.

Genetically engineered or not, we all found a great deal of food for thought in this excellent talk.

On a beautiful May evening at the Park Royal, Bob Comer president of Comer Special Effects Inc. presented a lively talk on the special effects industry to 60 members, friends and family. Bob recently completed a dramatic car crash for a television series called Millenium. The scene was shot in Belcarra park and involved a large truck, a speeding car and a lamp post. The car was fixed to an invisible rolling platform on a track, several sensors and props were included to create the final gruesome effect. The flaming back end of the car was blown 100 feet into a canyon by a hidden mortar!!

Bob, from Lancashire, UK, spiced his discussion of the technical and safety details of his work with humorous anecdotes and references to the pressures of working on a film set, such as the need to discourage the director from placing a camera man at the landing site of the flaming back end!! Bob showed the different means of presenting a single event and the work required - the "daily log" video record, the script, his own video of the explosion and crash (yes they did happen in reverse order - despite all the planning!) and the final screened film.

Bob has worked on the Millenium set ever since its first episode four years ago. He had many "inside stories" to tell about life on a long running series such as this - including how they blew up the director’s trailer one day!

All in all it was a great way to spend a summer evening (of course, we all migrated to the garden bar afterwards), and much was learned.