Richard Ali briskly walks around the Davie shipyard. He knows like the back of his hand every corner of the site that stretches 1.5 kilometers along the St. Lawrence River in Levis. He has been working there since 1987.
It’s more than just a job, here, it’s life!
He says.
The 61-year-old is Chantier Davie’s Vice President of Operations. Its role is to modernize the yard to build seven icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard. He agreed to defer his retirement for at least five years to make it happen. For him, it was unreasonable not to participate in promote
From the construction site to construction The ships are twice as large
in levis.
” It has sentimental value! »
Richard Alley is Chantier Davie’s Vice President of Operations. He says that many of his family and neighbors have been working on the site for several years. Modernization and futures were unheard of 100 years ago.
Photo: Radio Canada/Pierre-Alexandre Bolduc
Personally, it’s huge. I have two of my daughters working here. I have my wife who works here. So for the rest of us it’s kind of emotional
explains the one who started as a worker, at the bottom of the ladder, more than 30 years ago.
New building like Masterpiece
The next biggest change is the construction of a huge hangar for assembling giant ships inside. This is one of the criteria for obtaining contracts with the Canadian government.
At the moment, surveyors are taking measurements on the site. The procurement process to find contractors to build the structure has already begun. Work is scheduled to begin in 2024.
Surveyors take measurements at the site of the future collection shed. Tenders have already been issued for contracting companies. Construction of the new buildings is scheduled to begin in 2024.
Photo: Radio Canada/Pierre-Alexandre Bolduc
It really is a major facility
explains the director of these new infrastructures, Pascal Tabet.
” Our employees, our workforce will be safe and comfortable, indoors, and construction all year round. »
And because of the weather protection, on-site production will increase by at least 50%, according to Richard Alley.
We will not be exposed to the sun. We will not be exposed to rain and snow. At a temperature of less than 20 degrees, it is unimaginable to assemble ships with the energy and effort that this requires
he explains.
The huge assembly hangar would allow ships to be built inside. This is one of the most important criteria for obtaining contracts from the federal government.
Image: Davie Shipyard
The shipyard upgrade also includes a new assembly line for many of the steel plates of all sizes and shapes used in shipbuilding. Existing equipment, such as existing overhead cranes, will be replaced with new ones with improved lifting capacity and more mechanized and automated equipment.
We will also have a new paint shop and, of course, new premises for administration and staff.
Pascal Tabet adds.
Pascal Tabet is Vice President, Site Optimization and Integration at Chantier Davie.
Photo: Radio Canada/Pierre-Alexandre Bolduc
The goal: to break the ice for the first time in 2030
The goal is to deliver the first ship to the Coast Guard in 2030
Richard Ali fired.
The schedule is simple for the VP of Operations, though it’s not static. His team aims to finish construction work on new buildings in 2026. Then the first icebreaker will be started. Construction should last three years for delivery in 2030.
Richard Alie explains that building other icebreakers will take half the time since crews get used to the process.
It will allow us to be the best shipyard in Canada.
The future location of the assembly hangar for shipbuilding is indoors, warm, protected from the weather.
Photo: Radio Canada/Pierre-Alexandre Bolduc
Signatures still pending…
Although the shipyard has been part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy since April 4, the company does not officially hold a federal contract at this time.
We will continue to negotiate with the Government of Canada on each of the future vessel contracts.
Marcel Paulin, Director of Foreign Affairs and Industrial Investments, explains.
Officials [fédéraux] They sat down with our teams to start talking about ship design in particular. Conversations are happening now.
Marcel Poulin is hoping for news about the formalization of each of his seven icebreaker contracts at the end of the summer.
Marcel Poulin is Chantier Davie’s Director of External Affairs and Industrial Engagement.
Photo: Radio Canada/Pierre-Alexandre Bolduc
recruiting challenge
The site currently has 800 workers. In three years, another 1,000 people will be needed. Company officials don’t seem too concerned. Recruitment has already begun and working conditions are attractive, according to the organisation.
A few years ago, the average salary for our employees was over $90,000. The starting salary is $32 an hour
Marcel Poulin was fired.
He adds that the site’s staff works on a four-day-a-week schedule.
“Music guru. Incurable web practitioner. Thinker. Lifelong zombie junkie. Tv buff. Typical organizer. Evil beer scholar.”
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