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12 Built $60 Million Warsak Dam Angus Robertson Selected For York Central Hospital Structure Angus Robertson Limited was incorporated in 1930 and is both a holding and operating company. Angus Robertson re- mained its president until his death in 1947, when his son, Donald V. Robertson, was elect- edto head the company. From 1900 to 1930. the comâ€" pany under various names, car- ried out important contract work in many different parts of. Canada and took an active part in Canada’s development fol. lowing World War I. After 1925, various subsidi- arv companies were formed, the principal of these being Rayner Construction Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary which built among other major construction projects, the five-mile water tunnel under the City of Tor- onto. The firm has built some of the largest bridges, harbor installa- tions, industrial and office build- ings, and defence projects in Canada. It is also the only Ca- nadian company to have been awarded a major dam building At the age of 18, Angus W. Robertson. A. M. Robertson’s son, took over the work of his father and in 1896 went into partnership with Hugh Quinlan, forming the forerunner of An- gus Robertson Limited. The firm gradually expanded from mason- ary work to general contract- ing, the major part of this being the replacement of bridges. waits, and development of a concrete lining placed under water to protect the banks of the Lachine and Soulanges Canals. From there he went to Cleve- land and Murray, American contractors, and took charge of the stone work on the Cardinal Canal. For the balance of his life he worked as masonnr superintendent for the company. He died Feb. 10. 1893, following an accident while building: a quarry: The original foundations of the company can be traced back three generations, to a rugged young Scots immigrant who ar- rived in Canada in 1851. At the age of 22, this immigrant, A. Myles Robertson, began his career in the construction busin- ess. first as a stonemason at Bathurst, New Brunswick, then as foreman on the building of the second Welland Canal at Thorold, Ontario. Construction of the York Central Hospital has now begun. Awarded the million and a half dollar contract was the Angus Robertson Company of Toronto and Montreal, one of the larg- est construction firms in Canada and known throughout the world for its building of the Warsak Hydro-Electric and Irri- gation Project in West Pakistan as part of Canada’s contribu- tion to the Colombo plan. AN ARMED TRIBESMAN EMPLOYED AS THE LIBERAL, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Thursday, July 19, 1§62 Largest Ever The 60-million dollar Warsak Dam was the largest single proâ€" ject ever undertaken by the company and took almost six years to complete. General sup- erintendent in charge of field operations was 21 Richmond Hill man, Maurice J. Wicks of 104 Laverock Road, who spent five years and eight months in Paki- stan. At the peak period of con- struction he had 10,000 Paki- stani laborers under his direc- tion. It all started when the federal government decided in 1955 that their major contribution to the Besides the Warsak Dam. the company has built the Lord Simcoe Hotel in Toronto; Iro- quois Lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway; St. Joseph’s High School, Toronto; Confederation Life Building, Toronto; parts of the Yonge Street subway; Shand Control Dam; Postal Terminal Building, Ottawa; Humber Rivâ€" er Bridge on Highway 401; Ash- bridge’s Bay Sewage Disposal Plant, Toronto; Pilkingt-on Glass Ltd., plant, Toronto; head of- fice of the Toronto Hydro-Elec- tric System and airport facil- ities in many sections of Can- ada. Colombo Plan would be the War- sak multiâ€"purpose development. Previous investigation had esta- blished the need for low cost electrical power in the area to aid in the setting up of indus- tries and deep well pumping for land improvement, as well as for additional irrigation of the nearby plain. The Warsak development could make a major contribu- tion to these requirements, and in the course of construction a great many Pakistanis could be trained in modern construction methods and later continue to develop their own country. Neg- otiations were carried out be- tween the governments of Paki- stan and Canada to formulate the contribution that each would make. In general it was agreed that Canada would pay the cost of supervisors, technicians, mater- ial and equipment that had to be brought into the country. contract overseas, when it built the Warsak Dam in Pakistan. Pakistan paid all rupee costs History of the Company. description of the dam and construction problems encountered, along with the habits of the Pakistanis laborers are told in the first of two parts of this fabulous construction feat by Angus Robertson Limited. A GUARD Shipments of 'material or sup- plies frorp. Montreal, New Iork Between Peshawar and La- hore the road is fairly good by our standards, but from Lahore to Karachi road travel is diffi- cult and train service between Peshawar and Karachi is ex- tremely poor. Telephone, tele- graph and air mail services to Karachi are only fair. The nearest airport was 19 miles away at Peshawar, an an- cient city with a population of nearly half a million. Pakistan Government Airlines flies from Karachi to Peshawar four or five times a week. via Lahore and Rawalpindi, carrying air freight and passengers. Equipment and supplies for the giant project were brought in by rail about 1,000 miles from Karachi, the main sea- port, to Jamrud Fort, the Pakis- tan entrance to the famous Khyber Pass. A 15-mile hard top road was built from there to the dam site, on which all equipment and material had to be trucked. While building the perman- ent dam, temporary diversion was achieved by means of a 35- foot in diameter concrete lined tunnel, 1,700 feet long in the north bank of the river which bypasses the cofferdams. Cap- acity of this tunnel was approx~ imately 30.000 CFS with water at the level of the upstream cof- ferdam, thereby providing div- ersion for about six to seven months each year. The power house is built into the wall of the gorge and the water discharges into a tailrace channel with an outlet just be- low the stilling basin. Six, 55,- 000 hp. units supply the power. Auxiliary power is supplied by two 750 KVA house units fed by one six foot in diameter pen- stock tunnel. An irrigation tunnel three and a half miles long and 10 feet in diameter, inside the concrete li- ning leads water to a nearby portion of the arid plain to irri- gate 100,000 acres of land. The Kabul River has its source in the mountains of Afghanis- tan, with little storage, and flow ranges from a recorded minimum of 4,180 CFS to a max- imum of 225,000 CFS. Fortun- ately, the period of low flow corresponds to the best weather for working, and although the work was carried on throughout the year, it was possible to con- centrate on the river bottom during the months of September to April. Permanent work completed consists of a gravity type dam 650 feet long and 270 feet high, comprising an overflow section 440 feet long controlled by nine 40-feet-wide taintor gates be- tween 10-feet-wide piers. A bulkhead extends into the sides of the gorge at each end. Climate of the region is sub- tropical, with temperatures ranging from the thirties in winter to as high as 130 degrees in summer. Rainfall is light, about 16 inches a year, and the immediate area is little affected by the Mvonsoons. Below the dam is a stilling basin designed to dissipate the energy of the water during per- iods of overflow. A power tunnel in the south bank of the river, 39 feet in diameter, concrete lined and 700 feet long, leads the water to a manifold from which six, 18-foot diameter steel lined penstock tunnels take the water to the turbines. Warsak is located 18 miles from Peshawar, near the famed Khyber Pass, where the Kabul River leaves a deep narrow gorge in the Hindu Kush range to flow across the plain to join the Indus River. The general ground level of the surrounding plain is 1,100 feet above sea level. of labor, for such materials as could be produced in the coun- try, electrical power and fuel during construction, and for housing and accomodation. The latter costs were paid from counterpart funds from the sale of wheat donated by Canada. Temporary accommodation was a difficult problem, very little being available, and resulted in the buildâ€"up of the Canadian staff being considerably delayed during the first eight months. The company discarded the idea of erecting imported prefabri- cated houses due to the exces- sive costs. Following considerable study by the company, it decided to supply air-conditioning for the offices, hospital and quarters occupied by the Canadian staff. The houses and bachelor quar- ters had one unit for each bedâ€" room. Without airâ€"conditioning, sleep was almost impossible du- ring the summer months due to the high temperatures, Hospitaâ€"l and â€"medical facili- ties were generally lacking in the country. and it was neces- sary to establish them based on Canadian standards. A 50-bed As timber was in short sup- ply in the country, all buildings were constructed of masonry bricklaying being a well-known trade among local inhabitants. Mud bricks or Kacha bricks are widely used in Pakistan, but re- quire some maintenance in the wet weather. Burnt bricks were also available, though much more expensive and were most- ly used for permanent homes. Production from the Maple Leaf Cement plant at Daud Kehl, an earlier Canadian Col- ombo Plan project, made it pos- sible for the Wah plant to deliv- er Warsak’s requirements with- out seriously disrupting sup- plies to other users. Canadians who brought their families and for the senior Pak- istani staff. Bachelor quarters and single men’s mess were also constructed and Pakistanis were ouartered in multiple unit barracks. Cement was obtained from a plant at Wah, some 90 miles away by rail. A consistently good grade of Portland cement was maintained, and during the busy period as much as 19,000 tons per month was delivered, mostly in bulk, in specially built freight cars. Local accommodations had to be constructed for Pakistan- is as well as Canadians. Mar- ried quarter$ were ’built for Sand and gravel deposits for concrete were found within a few miles of the dam, close. to the Kabul River. Processing plants were designed to suit conditions, and all aggregates were obtained from crushing, screening and washing. Most of the ordinary materâ€" ials required for construction were in short supply in Pakis- tan and local purchases were of small volume. Although most foodstuffs were available, a lot of them were of indifferent quality by Canadian standards, and a considerable quantity of the food was imported. Approx- imately half of the diet of Can. adian personnel was from local sources. From the time an article was requisitioned at the site until delivery could be expected took nearly three months, provided there was no particular delay by the manufacturer. Air freight was used very sparingly due to the cost involved and only careful planning by the company kept this expense down to about $40,000 over a five-year period. Supplies by air took about six days from Canada. or St. John took from ‘30 to 35 days to reach Karachi, with a ship leaving about once a month. Transfer at Karachi to railroad cars, passage through customs, and inland freight to Jamrud F0 rt averaged nearly three Weeks A night view of the Warsak Hydro-Electric Dam in West Pakistan, built by Angus Rob- ertson Limited for the Canadian government. The plant, and the 750-feet-long, 27-feet-high, dam will generate 214,500 horsepower of electricity with an ultimate power output of 322,000 horsepower. It will provide water through a three and a half mile irrigation tunnel for more than 100,000 acres of parched land. Over three-quarter million cubic yards of concrete was used on the building of the dam. Earlier Project Angus Robertson had not previously worked abroad. Very few of the men sent to Warsak had ever been in the East, and most of them had not been off the North American continent. The government requirement that all employees from. Canada should be Canadians was adher- ed to, and care was taken when approving men to choose only those who might be expected to make a favorable impression. In addition, in the case of married men, whenever possible This had considerable bearing on equipment output, as it re- sulted in excessive mechanical breakdowns due to continual operation by inexperienced men. The rate of progress eventually attained in the diversion tunnel is an example of the company’s training program. During the last month of this work, the tunnel advanced 18 feet a day. in rock that required continual arch support. This was a very creditable performance from a labor force that had never work- ed on a project requiring this type of work. The important requirement of training as many Pakistanis as possible also affected labor costs considerably. It meant that there would always be a rather high percentage of only partial- ly productive apprentices, a con- dition that persisted through- out the entire job. Although the company was not expected to make a very close estimate of Pakistani costs, which as previously stat- ed covered all labor costs ex- cept supervision, it was impor- tant to estimate the output and operating efficiency of construc- tion equipment, all of which is closely linked with labor effic- iency. it was soon realized that more than double that number would be required. At peak of cons- truction, 150 company engin- eers and skilled construction personnel made up the Canad- ian contingent. All of these factors made planning difficult, and cost esti- mating particularly so. Another factor about which little was known was the output of labor, and here some rather vague as- sumptions had to be made. Knowledge of labor costs or the number of men required to do a certain job on similar work in Canada was of little value. Preliminary visits to the site revealed sufficient power was not available from the local net- work; construction of accommo- dation was proceeding slowly; the supply of skilled or semi- skilled men was very limited; and very few foremen could be found. A good deal of trouble was experienced in making up the construction schedule, with lit- tle knowledge of conditions to be encountered. The Canadian government was anxious to make a quick start once the de- cision to proceed had been tak- en. Likewise, the Pakistani authorities seemed to want to get ahead rapidly, though un- derstandably without full know- ledge of what was involved. Although it had been hoped the work could be carried out with only about 40 Canadians, It was fully equipped, and its main purpose was to treat job accidents and sickness among the employees and their famil- ies. Actually, many patients from other than the Warsak job were treated, which was greatly appreciated by the, Pak- istanis. hospital was built, and staffed by two Canadian doctors and three nurses, as well as a num- ber of Pakistani doctors, nurses and orderlies. First Overseas eighth grade. Full attention was given to recreation facilities. A build- ing was constructed for movies and dances; swimming pool, tennis courts, bowling alleys and billiard tables followed. A com- missary was established to sell Canadian staple foods. According to Mr. Wicks, the Pakistani staff were encour- aged to partake in all of these activities, and some of thEm be- came quite proficient in bowl- if they could be eXpected to fit in well to their new environ- ment. Excellent results were ach- ieved by the careful checking as mentioned above. It is in- teresting to note that of the total number of Canadians who returned home, approximately half was during the first year of operations when living con- ditions left much to be desired; and when the company was gaining experience in the type of men who could be expected to fit in and work well on a foreign job and in the climatic and other conditions prevailing at Warsak. r An early decision was- made to establish working conditions for Canadians reasonably similâ€" ar to those which they were ac- customed to at home, and to take married men and their fa- milies when experience and suit- ability indicated. The results showed that this decision was justified. their wives were also interview- eu to ascertain whether they were really willing to go, and A school was established with Canadian teachers to take nun- ils up to and including Grade 8, on the general standard of On- tario public schools. Special ar- rangements had to be made by the parents for children above eighth grade. Full attention was given to Every effort was made to ex- plain the living and working conditions to be expected. By the nature of its work, the com- pany had a small proportion of permanent employees available, and it was necessary to recruit a number of men not in the employ of the firm, though many of them had previously worked for it at one time or another. MR. WICKS (left) WITH HEAD TRIBAL CHIEF There was seldom any lack of numbers, but, especially at first, it was difficult to know how many of any particular gang might turn up for work on a given day. Gradually, however, as the tribesmen seemed to ach- ieve a certain sense of responsi- bility towards their work, they became aware of the opportuni- ties for advancement, and the percentage of absentees declin- ed to less than eight per cent. (Continued on Page 9) The method of labor recruit- ment was worked through the Malik, who is the political chief of a village. He is the one who receives and dispenses the gov- ernment grant, and who admini- sters justice of a kind. The l‘l- borer pays a small portion of his wages, either directly or through the company to the Malik. All Canadian employees were engaged under contract for a two-year period. plus or minus three months at the discretion of the company. Basic salary was approximately one-third higher than an equivalent sal- ary in Canada. A further sum of 15 per cent of the basic sal- ary was set aside as an incent- ive bonus, payable only after successful completion of the em- ployment contract. Three weeks annual leave was granted the Canadian personnel, as well as one day for every 15 days of completed contract was allowed for home leave. Trans- portation both ways was paid by the company for the employ- ee and his family on the basis of first class fare. But this took time, and many frustrations were encountered, particularly during the first six months when the Canadians sometimes wondered if they would ever be able to build up an efficient working force. As will be seen later, such a work- ing force was achieved. ing and tennis The company felt that these terms were sufficient to attract good men, though at times cer- tain classificrtions were diffi‘ cult to find, particularly during During 1955-56-57. there was relatively full employment in the construction industry in Ca- nada, and the Canadians who went to Warsak all left good jobs. friends, homes and associ- ations, to travel almost half way round the world to live and work with people of a different race, language, and culture. And with whom, superficially, they had little in common. 1957 The tribesmen. from whom the great bulk of the labor force was drawn are Pathans, people who have never really known law and order as we know it. They live in what we- would de- scribe as almost abject poverty, and their very livelihood de-i pends on the small amount of moisture which falls to yield a crop sufficient for themselves and their animals. A slight re- duction in precipitation results in a poor crop and means near starvation for many. And with whom, superficially, they had little in common. Furthermore, they were sub- jected to a climate which for five months of the year is ex- cessively hot compared to Can- ada. Patient explanation by the Pakistanis in authority gradu- ally convinced the tribesmen in the vicinity that the completion of the Warsak Dam would bring permanent benefit to them, and an opportunity for gainful em- ployment as well as the acquisi- tion of a trade in the meantime. Their Benefit