Saskatoon Firm Wins $4-Million CLS Mechanical Systems Contract

Posted June 29, 2000


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ? June 28, 2000 2000-06-17-OTHER

Saskatoon Firm Wins $4-Million CLS
Mechanical Systems Contract

The University of Saskatchewan has awarded a $4-million contract to
Saskatoon-based Inter-City Mechanical Ltd. for mechanical systems that will
meet the highly sensitive temperature and vibration control requirements for
Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron experiments.

The contract was approved June 23 by the U of S board of governors. Six bids
were received and all were from Canadian firms. CLS construction contracts
to date total about $47 million, of which 70 per cent has gone to
Saskatchewan-based companies.

Every effort is being made to prevent foundation vibrations because any
movement in the magnets used to control the electron flow could lead to
inaccuracies in the scientific experiments performed with the synchrotron.
Air temperature within the synchrotron must also be strictly controlled to
prevent the light beam from wandering even slightly.

The Inter-City Mechanical Ltd. contract includes the supply and installation
of mechanical systems including fluid coolers, plumbing, compressed air,
fire protection, fume hood venting systems, vibration mitigation, sound
reduction and a HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system.

The contract includes a $300,000 allowance for building system controls,
which are being designed by U of S facilities management.

A synchrotron is a stadium-sized, high-tech machine that accelerates a
stream of electrons and manipulates them to create a beam of light billions
of times brighter than the sun. The light can then be used by industrial and
university scientists as a revolutionary new tool to observe structures and
chemical reactions at a molecular level.

Construction of the $173.5-million national facility is on time and on
budget. The CLS will begin operations in January of 2004.

CLS construction is funded mainly by the Canada Foundation for Innovation,
the Canadian government, the Saskatchewan government, the Ontario
government, the University of Saskatchewan, the City of Saskatoon, and
SaskPower.


For more information contact:

Barry Hawkins
CLS Project Manager
(306) 966-6065

Kathryn Warden
Communications Officer
Office of the Vice President Research
(306) 966-2506 Phone
(306) 966-2411 Fax
kathryn.warden@usask.ca