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OCTOBER 2008 COVER STORY:
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| Grand McNally For nearly 60 years, McNally International has been a leader in large-scale construction projects in North America. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, McNally built its reputation by successfully navigating the complex soils left behind by three to four periods of glaciation in the Toronto area. Always ready for a challenge, the company pursued work elsewhere, branching out into the United States and launching a successful marine construction arm. Through all of its growth and all of its success, McNally has remained a family business at heart, with three generations of McNallys and two generations of Hutton family members, as well as other two- and three-generation workers serving crucial roles. McNally International and its sister companies have been on some of the best regarded civil construction projects in North America — a record of excellence made more remarkable when held against the modest-scale projects of the company’s early days. From Homes to Tunnels McNally was founded in 1949 as S. McNally & Sons and got its start building houses in the post-World War II era. Through the 1950s and into the 1960s, the company saw opportunity in civil work and took on larger projects, from road and highway building to sewer and watermain work and eventually moved into tunneling. One of the “Sons,” Joseph, guided the company into the tunneling business. If there were an indicator of the long-term direction the company would take, however, it came in the 1970s when McNally won two large tunneling contracts in Toronto — the Mid-Toronto Interceptor and the Yonge Street Subway Extension. McNally completed work on the Mid-Toronto Interceptor in three separate contracts. The first contract, awarded in 1970 for $9.5 million, called for the construction of 19,400 lf of 120- and 108-in. sewer as well all connections to local systems, laterals and appurtenances. The second began in 1972 and was awarded for $5.5 million for the construction of roughly 12,000 lf of 96-in. ID sewer. The third contract, valued at $4.5 million, was for 11,600 lf, 60-in. ID sewer and started in 1974 The Yonge Street Subway Extension came about following a rough time for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in the 1960s. A declining number of riders left the TTC short of funding and it required an increasing subsidy from the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, which left the latter group with an increased stake in determining a course of action for subsequent projects. In the interest of political expediency and to maintain an active construction schedule, officials opted to extend the existing subway lines rather than plan and construct new ones. The extension was formally approved in 1969 and construction began in 1971. Coming to America and Getting Wet in Canada The 1980s began an accelerated growth period with the expansion into the United States’ tunneling market in the early 1980s and bookended by the development of a marine construction division in the 1990s. Beginning in the late 1970s, McNally began looking for opportunities in the United States, eventually winning the contract for the SW Interceptor #3 for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD). The 4.25-mile tunneling job led to other work in Cleveland — the SW Interceptors 4 and 6, the West Leg and Big Creek Interceptors. McNally Tunneling was incorporated in the United States and operates as a separate entity from McNally International. “They had always managed from the main office in Hamilton,” explains Larry Lenahan, who had been brought in to run the Cleveland projects and stayed on to lead McNally Tunneling. “They wanted to have a U.S.-based company to run the U.S. jobs.” McNally Tunneling pursued work across the United States, completing projects from Seattle to Minneapolis to Houston to Raleigh, N.C., and points between. The Alki Transfer project was of particular significance because the 2-mile, EPB tunnel project was lined with precast concrete segments. North American Segment Co. was formed to meet the need for this project, further demonstrating McNally’s flexibility and dedication to the tunneling market. The marine construction division began in earnest with the acquisition of several marine contractors in Ontario and eastern Canada. McNally acquired an office in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which operates under the Beaver Marine namesake. Other marine acquisitions followed and an additional office has recently been opened outside of Montreal, Quebec. Key projects for the marine division include the Enwave Deep Cooling project in Toronto in 2003, which included three 1,600-mm diameter, 5,500-m long intake lines to draw cold water from the bottom of Lake Ontario for an innovative district energy project. McNally also recently completed the Raglan Wharf Rehabilitation project for Xstrata Nickle in Deception Bay. The project included dredging, site preparation, prefabrication of concrete cribs in Nova Scotia, transporting to Deception Bay, placing and filling with stone. The project won an award from the American Concrete Institute for the slip forming process that was used for the cribs. ‘Sheppard’-ing in a New Era To be sure, McNally’s reputation has developed over its near 60-year history, but the Sheppard Subway twin tunnels project would push the company to another level of excellence and recognition. From 1996 to 2000, a McNally/PCL/Aecon JV built twin 2.5-mile tunnels for TTC’s first new subway line in decades. “The Sheppard project was big because it gave us an opportunity to develop our people and bring in some new workers as well,” explains John Hutton. “It cemented our reputation as the leading tunnel contractor in Canada.” Completed in twin drives of 3,300 m and 600 m each through the complex ground conditions McNally has become familiar with through its experience working in Toronto, the Sheppard Subway is noteworthy not only for the size of the project (the tunneling contracts were worth some $100 million not counting the cost of the TTC-supplied TBMs and precast segments) but for the economic growth that has sprouted along the line since it came on line in 2002. It is estimated that $1 billion in new housing and condominium construction has been built to take advantage of the line. Recently, McNally has also won a series of contracts in the York Region to effectively twin the existing sewer system for the fast-growing municipality. The Regional Municipality of York is one of Canada’s fastest-growing areas, with a population increase of more than 20 percent in the recent five-year census period (2001 to 2006). Nearing completion, the Bathurst Collector and Langstaff Trunk Sewer project is another plus-sized success for McNally. This design-build project by the McNally/Aecon JV with Genivar Consultants includes 8,625 m of 2.74-m ID, segmentally lined tunnel completed in three drives and six shafts. Two of the drives are for the Bathurst Sewer with the third drive for the Langstaff Sewer. The Bathurst drives utilized the same Lovat EPB machine launched from a central shaft first mining 2,550 m south before being removed and relaunched for the remaining 2,550-m north drive. The Langstaff drive launched from the west and mined 3,525 m to intersect with the Bathurst tunnel. The project was completed concurrently with the York Region 19th Avenue Interceptor Project, which includes 4,100 m of 2.74 m ID segmental tunnel through an artesian aquifer in the environmentally sensitive Oak Ridge’s Moraine. Three Lovat TBMs were used on the two projects. Mining on the Bathurst north drive achieved record high production rates for both projects, with a best shift of 17 rings and high of 129 rings per week. A Family Affair The future of McNally is evident not only in the third-generation McNallys (and second generation Huttons) who have returned to the family business after cutting their teeth with other tunneling or consulting firms, but in the other second- and third-generation family’s who have joined McNally. “We have been fortunate to have great people,” explains Laura McNally, one of the third generation McNallys. “We’ve got quite a few father-and-son and mother-and-daughter sets on our team. Even a third generation in one case. It’s about bringing in the best people and hanging on to them.” Ray Hutton, himself a second-generation McNally employee, echoes Laura McNally’s sentiment: “I would attribute a large part of our success in this market to having a stable group of core craft and supervisory workers. As the company has grown, these employees have stepped into more important roles and have provided leadership for younger employees. “Another area that has contributed to this success is our commitment to continually investing in modern equipment,” Ray continues, highlighting both McNally’s existing fleet of machines and its willingness to adapt as needed. “We own a pretty good fleet of both soft ground and hard rock TBMs, and we are able to maintain and refurbish them in house as required,” agrees vice president Murray Malott. “We have a 96-in. Lovat working right now on a rib and lagging job in Ontario. This is the ninth machine built by Lovat — it’s completed close to 200,000 ft of tunnel. We rebuilt this machine in house in our Toronto shop prior to the job and are currently rebuilding a Robbins 9.5-ft machine in the same shop for an upcoming job in Toronto.” Between bringing in the best people and acquiring and maintaining a top-notch fleet, McNally has been able to meet its challenges face-on. At press time, McNally has 12 projects under way both in Canada and in the United States. With design-build projects becoming more prevalent in both countries, McNally’s experience with this new-model contracting practice puts it in a healthy place to reach into the future. Not only that, but the multi-generational workforce is evidence of a company that treats its employees well, which will serve McNally well given the workforce shortage facing the tunneling industry in both countries. Nobody gets into tunneling because it’s easy, but McNally International is proof that a solid record builds a solid name in the industry. The company has grown in its near 60-year history — it has grown to take on new projects and even new industries — but what remains, both in Canada and the United States, is the commitment to excellence that led a modest-sized home builder to tackle its first civil project. From there, the company and the name it bears would become synonymous with big builds done right. Greg Thompson is assistant editor for Tunnel Business Magazine. Selected McNally Tunneling Projects:
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