Construction, maintenance and turnaround crews for mining and in-situ operations in northeast Alberta.
The Athabasca oil sands around Fort McMurray hold one of the largest oil deposits in the world. Operations in the region fall into two groups: open-pit mining north of the city, with extraction plants and upgraders, and in-situ operations, mostly steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), spread across the boreal forest to the south and east.
Both run around the clock, and both depend on contractors who can mobilize to remote sites, live in camp, work safely in extreme cold and keep a turnaround on schedule. Rice Brothers has completed complex EPC projects in remote and challenging locations, and our crews are used to working far from the nearest supply house.
We plan, staff and manage oil sands work from our Calgary office, with crews travelling by road on Highway 63 or by air depending on the site and the rotation.
Sustaining capital, maintenance and turnarounds.
From the mine face to the pipeline, the region’s facilities need the crafts we self-perform.
Extraction plants, froth treatment, tailings and utilities at the open-pit mines north of Fort McMurray.
Upgraders that convert bitumen to synthetic crude, with heavy maintenance demands and periodic turnarounds.
Central processing facilities, well pads, steam generation and water recycling across the southern oil sands.
Produced water treatment, recycling and disposal systems that in-situ operations depend on. See water & wastewater.
Tankage, terminals and pipeline facilities that move diluted bitumen to market. See midstream.
Cogeneration, steam, cooling and electrical systems that keep remote sites running on their own.
Oil sands work is rotational, and much of it runs out of camp. We plan crew rotations, travel, accommodation and site access before mobilizing, and we follow each operator’s own orientation, permitting and camp rules. Every worker completes company orientation, Basic Plus+, site-specific orientation, pre-employment drug and alcohol screening, respirator fit testing, a medical evaluation and physical, and NCCER or equivalent industry certification before starting work.
Turnarounds are where schedules are won or lost. Spring and fall turnaround seasons draw on the same pool of skilled trades across the region, so we plan staffing early and bring in support from the wider Rice Brothers organization when a project needs more people or equipment.
Winter temperatures in the region regularly drop below minus thirty. Cold-weather procedures, hoarding, heat tracing and equipment winterization are part of our plan from day one, not an afterthought.
Remote work also changes how we plan materials. A missing fitting can cost a shift when the nearest supplier is hours away, so we build detailed material take-offs, stage materials before crews arrive and keep spares for the items most likely to hold up the job. Prefabricated pipe spools and equipment modules shift work off site and into controlled shop conditions, which shortens time in the field and reduces the number of people needed on a remote site at once. For operators, that means fewer camp beds, less travel and a shorter, safer turnaround.
Yes. We take on construction, maintenance and turnaround work at open-pit mining operations, upgraders and in-situ SAGD facilities across the Wood Buffalo region.
Yes. We plan rotations, travel and accommodation for remote sites and follow each operator’s camp and site rules.
Yes. We plan turnaround scope and staffing early so crews are ready when spring and fall turnaround seasons arrive.
Yes. Process piping, steam distribution, water treatment, equipment setting, and electrical and instrumentation work at central processing facilities and well pads all fit our scope.
We build cold-weather welding procedures, hoarding, heat tracing and equipment winterization into the plan and schedule before work starts.
Call +1 587 332 1270, email info@rice-brothers.ca or send a message through our contact page with the site location and a short description of the work.
Tell us about the site, the scope and the timing. We’ll plan the crew, the rotation and the logistics.