Evergreen Line Rapid Transit Project, Vancouver, BC 

Lead Design & Seismic Engineer (Special Spans) | 2012-2014 | $1.4B | SNC Lavalin 

The Evergreen Line Rapid Transit Project, an 11 km link between Coquitlam, Port Moody, and Burnaby, features continuous, multi-span, girder-type guideway superstructures. Spanning from 30m to 42m, these structures were connected to piers via a two-stage concrete casting process. The design accounted for soil conditions, liquefaction presence, substructure stiffness, and alignment geometries, resulting in varying girder types and sizes. Post-erection, the concrete boxes were post-tensioned for continuity. Saqib, while at MMM (now WSP), led the structural and seismic design for these special structures and coordinated with Station design firms. As Lead Engineer for these guideway bridges, he supervised the design production and delivery from preliminary to IFC stages.

Champlain Bridge Project, Montréal, QC 

Lead Design & Seismic Engineer (Land Bridges) | 2014-2016  | $4B | Dragados/Flatiron/SNC Lavalin  

Bridge P11B, part of the Champlain Bridge Project, is a two-span rail transit/bus structure with a 60m - 64m span arrangement. The design faced challenges such as heavy rapid-transit loads, train derailment, deck deflections, and a 125-year design life fatigue. These issues were addressed through specific design adjustments and detailing, including a bolted detail for higher fatigue detail categories. The design also took into account braking, traction, and seismic loads for substructure design. Saqib, as the Lead Engineer, was responsible for supervising the engineering team for detailed design, production of drawings and specifications while employed with MMM (now WSP).

Ross Road Bridge(s) Replacement, North Vancouver, BC, Canada 

Engineer of Record | 2018 | $5M | District of North Vancouver

The project entailed replacing two bridges in a busy North Vancouver residential neighborhood. These bridges had reached their lifespan and required improved hydraulic capacity. The initiative also involved enhancing the road with bike lanes and sidewalks. Careful design ensured minimal environmental and residential impact, while meeting geometric constraints and the new hydraulic requirement. The replaced bridges, Hastings and Coleman Creek, are 11m spans of precast slabs supporting a concrete deck, connected to sheet pile wall abutments. They were built in two phases to maintain traffic flow. Saqib was the Engineer of Record for the structures during employment with McElhanney.

208th Street Overpass, Langley, BC, Canada 

Engineer of Record (Seismic Retrofit Design) | 2018 | $12M | Township of Langley 

The existing bridge is a 90m long two span structure crossing TransCanada Highway with equal spans of 45m. The superstructure is precast concrete girders that are integral with the bent. The bridge was seismically retrofitted to CHBDC 2014 performance based seismic provisions. This bridge was one of the first in the province to be seismically upgraded to the 2014 code.  This evaluation of the bridge to the new standard resulted in the retrofit of the bent by adding a shear wall between the columns and strengthening of the pile supported footing cap through post-tensioning. The post-tensioning was designed to minimize interference with existing reinforcement of the footing cap and reduce on-site excavation. Saqib served as the Engineer of Record for the seismic retrofit of the existing  208th Street Overpass during employment with McElhanney. 

MacDonald Cartier Bridge, Ottawa, ON 

Lead Seismic Retrofit Engineer | 2012-2013 | Public Works & Government Services Canada 

The Macdonald Cartier Bridge, a 650m long, five-span structure, links Ottawa, ON and Gatineau, QC. It features mass reinforced concrete piers and large wall-type piers providing little ductility. To avoid costly retrofits, a seismic base-isolation retrofit was performed, reducing substructure demands below nominal capacities. This included non-linear modal analysis using Ritz Vectors and utilizing friction pendulum bearings (FPBs) at piers and bridge abutments. Different FPB sizes and stiffnesses were designed for specific locations to achieve desired seismic performance. The retrofit complied with CAN/CSA-S6-06. Saqib led the base-isolation analysis and seismic retrofit design at MMM (now WSP).