Morrison Hershfield Limited received two Consulting Engineers of Alberta Awards of Merit for "The Longest Link - The Alberta SuperNet Fort Chipewyan Wireless Link" during the 2005 Showcase Awards. The Awards were received for engineering and project management. One of the judges commented, "A six-week window, harsh environments on a never-before project is impressive enough; add in the social significance of connecting a remote community - you've achieved excellence."

Background: The Alberta SuperNet is a Government of Alberta initiative to create an affordable broadband network equally accessible to every community across the province. SuperNet provides network connectivity to provincial offices, agencies, schools, libraries and healthcare facilities, including 4,700 connections in 422 communities. It involves approximately 20,000 km of fibre-optic cabling and 2,000 km of wireless links. Morrison Hershfield was contracted by Bell to provide site acquisition, engineering, project management and construction management services for the wireless portion of the build.

The Challenge: The biggest challenge of designing the wireless network was engineering connectivity to the community of Fort Chipewyan, the most remote community connected to the SuperNet. Fort Chipewyan is a geographically isolated community situated on Lake Athabasca, approximately 220 km north of Fort McMurray. The only year round access is by air, and in winter, via ice roads. The surrounding terrain is dominated by wetlands, environmentally sensitive marshlands and muskeg. Due to the wet soil conditions and environmental concerns, fibre-optic facilities were not possible.

The Solution: Numerous design alternatives and technologies were investigated and evaluated, with the ultimate solution being high bandwidth (OC3) microwave radio. The connection begins with a fibre optic cable from Fort McMurray to Fort MacKay (approx. 60 km north). From there, connectivity transitions to wireless, with a 62 km microwave link to the Birch Mountain repeater. The system is highlighted by the 121 km wireless link from the Birch Mountain repeater to Fort Chipewyan, believed to be the longest link of its kind.