OIL & GAS
The oil and gas industries face a unique set of challenges. Whether you’re looking for a few mats to get you into and out of a site or you need to stabilize a drilling platform, we’ve got you covered.
Paradox and our engineering partners at Stratum work with our clients to deliver solutions that meets their unique needs. If you just want a few mats and want to pick them up yourself — we can do that. If you need someone to build an access road through muskeg and want every detail taken care of— we can do that too.
Paradox offers traditional access solutions like matting as well as innovative new technologies like Tough Cell® which can provide incredibly tough, long-lasting roads and pads at the same or lower cost than traditional matting — all while being lightning-fast to install.
Solutions
- MATTING – Oak mats with superior durability (rent or buy)
- ACCESS ROADS – Using Tough Cell® we can build roads in even the most challenging environments
- OIL PADS & DRILLING PLATFORMS – soil stabilization that doesn’t degrade and is built to last
Resources
Project Profile
Access Granted in Buffalo Creek
Our team at Paradox was tasked with creating an 11km access road for a natural gas processing plant, the longest project of its kind on muskeg terrain.
The site was located in northern Alberta, and it was impossible to get there by car—the only way to access the location was via plane. The team began work on building the road during one of the wettest seasons in recent memory. The muskeg conditions were incredibly challenging, and there were many roadblocks involved in building on such treacherous terrain.
The Challenge:
If there’s one word that describes our team at Paradox, it’s “tenacious.” When we were tasked with building a road over muskeg during the worst seasonal rainfall in recorded history, we certainly knew it would be a challenge. But what we didn’t know was the muskeg would flood and freeze overnight, causing delays and adding yet another layer of complexity to an already challenging project.
But this is a group that doesn’t back down from a challenge, and when faced with this unexpected hurdle, we got creative. Our team had to get ahead of themselves with matting so that when everything froze solid overnight, we would have some protection for our materials until they could finish up before permafrost set in.
The Solution:
We’re no strangers to harsh conditions.
Despite the unforgiving weather in Northern Alberta, Paradox has been able to build roads and other infrastructure that can withstand it all.
Paradox was able to achieve this with our unique process of roadbuilding, which is made up of three key components:
1) Geotextile on native soil—This helps keep the roadbed stable by allowing water and sediment to pass through more easily, instead of building up underneath the road surface.
2) Tough Cell®—Tough Cell® is a unique cellular confinement system or geocell for soil stabilization and reinforcement that enables road construction on challenging and problematic soils. It stays stable in temperatures from -60C to +60C and resists cracking, even when exposed to sunlight for long periods of time.
3) Tough Cell® can be filled with locally sourced, inferior materials like sand, recycled asphalt, and other aggregates. This saves time and money while reducing the project’s impact on the environment.
Why Paradox is different:
Paradox has been the industry leader in the road building industry since 2004, and that’s because of our commitment to providing sustainable solutions that work for the environment—not against it. In this particular project, carbon emissions were reduced by 40%.
Paradox also ensures they have the blessing of Indigenous communities before building, honoring their traditional stewardship of the land. We have made it a priority to understand the protocols and learn about the customs, wildlife, and land of each Indigenous community with which we work. At Paradox, we’re dedicated to working together with Indigenous communities.
We collaborate with community people and Indigenous stakeholders to build enduring bonds based on respect, trust, and mutual benefit. Our business culture encourages good relations with Indigenous communities by respecting their culture and traditional values, being aware of their rights under treaties, advancing their economic well-being, and establishing and maintaining relationships.
Our success with the Buffalo Creek project could not have existed without our decades of experience and industry-leading technologies and services. This project was difficult no doubt, but Paradox has never backed down from a challenge. We were determined to create a solution, and our success was determined by our drive and expertise.
Paradox Access is a unique company completely dedicated to creating a greener and more accessible Alberta, and that’s why Paradox is the ideal partner for any road-building project.