Manitoulin Transport operates a busy trucking terminal in Montreal, Quebec, located in a high volume industrial area near the Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. The 98,000-square-foot facility has 76 loading docks and an average of 200 to 300 trucks in and out every day, connecting it with the more than 80 other trucking terminals in their network across Canada and in the U.S. as well. Operations run 24/7, meaning limiting disruptions to the facility is critical even for large projects like roof replacements.

The original metal roof was approximately 50 years old and had been leaking for a few years. There were numerous attempts to extend the life of the roof by fixing the leaks. Over time, the repairs were becoming cost-prohibitive and were not very effective. On top of that, the leaking was damaging valuable freight and creating wet, slippery floors inside the building – a hazard to employees. Terry McCutcheon, corporate facility manager for Manitoulin, decided it was time to start exploring options for a roof replacement.

McCutcheon had been working with a local building envelope professional for several years on repairs. He reached out to his contact for recommendations on a roof replacement. A structural evaluation was completed to determine the load-bearing limits of the roof, which revealed a metal retrofit system was the only option. The recommended solution provided dual benefits: a watertight solution and installation with minimal disruption to the facility’s 24/7 operations.

Garland’s R-Mer^® Span standing seam panels were installed on the retrofit system. The 18-inch wide, 24-gauge G-90 galvanized steel panels can withstand harsh Montreal weather conditions where average yearly snowfall is nearly 83 inches. The panels also have a unique profile containing mesas throughout to minimize the appearance of “oil canning”.

One unique aspect of this roofing project was the need to roll form the R-Mer Span panels on site due to the length of panels needed to create a seamless, watertight system. The tight space constraints around the building along with the length of panels – the longest at 187 feet – required the panels to be lifted by crane. Adding even more complexity to the project, the weather had to be just right to safely operate the crane. Roll forming began mid-week with the crane scheduled for the weekend. The scheduling, logistics and detailed coordination of the project were critical to its success.

“We arranged for roll forming to be started during a time of week and year that would be less disruptive to operations,” McCutcheon said. “Garland did a good job of organizing the whole operation so the pain incurred only lasted a few days as opposed to weeks.”

With the panels lifted and stacked on the roof, the contractor, Couverture Montreal Nord, began installation. The first phase of the project began in fall 2018 and the second phase of project was completed in summer 2019.

McCutcheon was pleased with the successful outcome of the project and praised Andrew Michaud, territory manager, and his team at Garland Canada Inc. McCutcheon said, “Andrew is well organized, communicates effectively and the RAMP^® reporting we get on our roofs is really useful to us. We’re not experts in roofing; Andrew and his team take care of that for us, and we’ve been quite pleased by the quality of work.”

Photo credit: Garland Canada Inc.