Muskrat Falls formwork collapse a first for Kansas company

The owner of a Kansas company that manufactured the concrete formwork that collapsed at Muskrat Falls last month says it's the first such failure in the company's long history.

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"It's a situation that's not good for anybody — me, the contractor., the owner — It's not good all the way around," said Dave Kramer, owner of Contractor's Engineer Inc. 

CEI, as it's known in the industry, won a $2 million-plus contract from Astaldi Canada — the general contractor for civil work on the Muskrat Falls Project — to provide the wooden formwork for the four large draft tube elbows at the powerhouse.

The first draft tube was constructed without incident, but the formwork for tube No. 2 collapsed during a major concrete pour on May 29, spilling nearly 500 cubic metres of concrete — the equivalent of about 17 basement foundations — and submerging a handful of workers.

Kramer admitted to CBC News he's worried about what the failure might mean for his company's reputation.

"We're just working to try and come up with a solution and keep the project moving forward."

CEI has specialized in formwork for a half-century, and "we have never had a piece of formwork fail. Ever," said Kramer.

Weather may have weakened wood

The draft tubes will direct large volumes of water away from the powerhouse after it flows through the four turbines, which will generate up to 824 megawatts of hydroelectricity when the controversial project is complete in about four years.

The formwork was manufactured at CEI's factory in Neodesha, Kan., and shipped to Labrador for assembly.

While there were no serious injuries in the May collapse, construction on that section of the powerhouse remains stalled while investigators probe for a cause.

Sources have told CBC News the wooden panels used in the formwork were exposed to the elements for several months before being assembled, and this may have weakened the material.

Kramer would not rule that out as a possible factor in the collapse.

"Sure. That's definitely something we're all looking at," he said.

A more robust support system

It's not known when construction might resume, or how the incident will affect the overall schedule and cost of the multi-billion-dollar project, which is already significantly over-budget and behind schedule.

• It's official: Muskrat Falls a boondoggle, says Stan Marshall

Kramer said when work does resume, additional supports will be used to make sure there are no more problems.

"We're going to move forward being very conservative to make sure it doesn't happen on any of the other three that are left to be put in place," he said.

The company is manufacturing a replacement formwork, and it will be ready for shipping by the end of this week, Kramer said.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Astaldi said Monday the scene has not yet been released by occupational health and safety investigators, and a clean-up has not yet begun.

Astaldi, an Italian company, is locked in a dispute with Nalcor over costs.

The company won a $1.1 billion contract to oversee the civil engineering work, but is now requesting extra payments, "hundreds of millions" more, according to Nalcor CEO Stan Marshall.

Both sides are trying to negotiate a settlement.