Works begin on the multidisciplinary project for the City of Quebec’s Resource Recovery Center

Every year, municipal construction projects in Quebec City generate large quantities of excavated materials, including those from road and water main repairs: various types of soil, aggregates, sand, concrete, and other waste materials that can be recycled or processed. Under normal circumstances, some of these materials would have to be transported to a site in Thetford Mines, nearly 100 km away, resulting in high costs and significant greenhouse gas emissions.

A Modern and Innovative Facility

With the establishment of the Center, the City of Quebec will have dedicated infrastructure to sort, process, and recover materials from its own construction sites locally. This approach will allow for the reuse of recycled materials rather than relying solely on new materials, marking a concrete step toward a circular economy for soil and materials in Quebec City.

The project will include the following facilities and infrastructure:

• A platform of over 70,000 square meters of Roller-Compacted Concrete (RCC)
• Permeable paving surfaces
• Surface water management entirely via filter swales
• A building of nearly 1,000 square meters housing offices and a maintenance garage
• A rainwater treatment system for reuse
• A wheel wash
• A drainage system with green infrastructure
• The installation of a noise barrier

 

Once operational, the center will, among other things:

• Recycle up to 280,000 tons of excavated material per year (the equivalent of 15 Vidéotron Centers filled to capacity)
• Decontaminate between 24,000 and 48,000 tons of soil
• Reduce the distances traveled by trucks and cut GHG emissions by approximately 5,000 tons of CO₂ per year
• Generate over $8 million in annual savings through reduced transport distances and material reuse

 

Streamlined coordination thanks to BIM

To carry out the design and supervision of this major project, our teams will draw on in-depth engineering expertise, a thorough understanding of environmental issues, and the ability to coordinate multiple disciplines to achieve objectives while complying with applicable standards and regulations. Much of the success achieved so far is due to effective coordination, made possible by the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM), which fosters integrated collaboration among all stakeholders, from design through construction.

Sustainability and social responsibility at the heart of the project

The center’s design places special emphasis on its harmonious integration into the surrounding environment. The impacts of lighting and noise on nearby residential areas are carefully considered, as are the protection of groundwater quality and compliance with applicable regulations. The facilities are also designed to ensure user safety, operational efficiency, and controlled access to the site, all within a responsible and sustainable framework.

We are proud to put our expertise at the service of the City of Quebec for this complex infrastructure project, which will contribute to better management of the City’s excavated materials and support the transition to a sustainable circular economy.

For more information on the project, visit the City of Quebec’s web site.