Iqaluit set to upgrade truck, backhoe fleet

Iqaluit’s public works department aims to reduce the variety of makes in its fleet of trucks, pictured, and other equipment in an effort to reduce maintenance costs. The department ordered a new backhoe and two heavy trucks from the Toromont Cat dealer in Iqaluit this month, ready for use this summer. (PHOTO BY PETER VARGA)

The City of Iqaluit’s public works department plans to upgrade some of its heavy equipment this summer.

City council gave the department the green light June 11 to purchase a new backhoe and two new trucks from the city’s Toromont Caterpillar dealer.

The purchases, amounting to about $478,000, are a step toward standardizing the city’s equipment and reducing maintenance costs, according to public works director Keith Couture.

The purchase of Caterpillar-brand stock from a heavy equipment dealer in Iqaluit means parts will be interchangeable and easier to order, and “highly-trained technicians” will be on hand in Iqaluit, Couture said.

The new backhoe will be used for all excavation work, particularly repairs to culverts, ditch-digging and similar tasks around the city’s roads.

“It’s normally the workhorse of most public works departments,” Couture told city council at the June 11 meeting.

The city’s current backhoe will be re-assigned for use in Apex, where it will be kept, and the new model kept at the city’s municipal garage, he said.

Also on order are two heavy trucks, one with a water tank at $288,000 with shipping and the other with a sand-spreader, at $190,000 with shipping, Couture said. Using the standard Caterpillar brand will reduce the need for different tire-sizes, filters and other parts the city now deals with.

“Presently we have many different trucks in the fleet, which we want to eliminate to reduce the maintenance problem,” Couture said, pointing out that the city has at least three different makes of trucks in its lots.

“I’m wondering if the sander will be different from the one we have now, which pelts my car with rocks,” Coun. Kenny Bell asked half-jokingly at the council meeting.

“That’s a two-part question,” Couture answered. The sander is state-of the-art, he said, “with less parts to break.” Secondly, he said, the city’s department of engineering is calling a tender for sand, rather than collecting its own from a quarry outside the city.

“We’re going to have sand made for us this year. So it’ll be real sand and not rocks,” he smiled. “So you won’t get pelted.”