Engineering Technologies Canada Ltd.

PEI SITE ASSESSOR COURSE RESOURCE & REFERENCE PAGE

Please bookmark the link to this web page: engtech.ca/pei-sa-course-2024

With several people in the course we cannot personally call or text every attendee. So group emails and this web page will be used to issue updates and communicate about the course. 

Please bookmark this page and check it and your emails every morning and evening for any updates on weather issues or correspondence about the course.

New updates will be added to the top of this page. 

EXAM, Thursday, July 10

The exam will start at 9am and will go until 12 noon. Kelly will be at the Rodd Hotel at 8am in case there are any final questions that you need clarification on between 8am and 9am. 

The exam is open book and you may bring a laptop or tablet with you. Note that you are responsible to have reviewed and to be familiar with the requirements of the following documents:

PEI Water Act – Sewage Disposal Systems Regulations (NEW 2021) (60 pages)

Onsite Sewage Disposal Systems in PEI, Construction Standards Handbook (2013) (135 pages)

PEI SOIL SURVEY (1988) (219 pages)

You are encouraged to have either digital copies of these documents on a laptop or tablet,  or you should print off a hard copy to bring to the exam. 

Make sure you have also reviewed the reference documents in Tab 2 of your binder, including the document called: Common Mistakes & Misunderstandings. 

LINKS TO KELLY’S FULL SLIDE PRESENTATIONS

This folder in Google Drive should allow you to view and download seven PowerPoint Presentations. 

Alternatively, below are links to the individual PowerPoint Presentations. Note, some of these files are very large due to the high resolution photos!

1 Welcome & Intro-PEI-Site-Assessment 2024.pdf 3.9MB

2 LandOnline & Preliminary Office Assessment 2024.pdf 3.8MB

3 Soil Texture 2024.pdf 6.3MB

4 Soil Structure 2024.pdf 11.0MB

5 Insitu-Permeability-Testing-Pask-Permeameter 2024.pdf 4.5MB

6 Colour-Patterns-Features-Maritimes-Profiles-2024.pdf 18.5MB

7 PEI-Disposal-Field-Selection-Installation & Interceptor Trenches 2024.pdf 3.2MB (Kelly did not give this short presentation during the course but you should review the information nevertheless.)  

If you are unable to view these PDF files, email Kelly to let me know and I will try to help.

Note you will not be able to edit these files, but you should be able to view them and download them onto your own device, or save a copy in your own Google Drive. 

PRE-EXAM QUIZ

There is a 20 question, multiple choice quiz on our website that you can use to check your knowledge and to get an idea of the kind of questions you will get on the exam. You can take the quiz here at this link:

https://www.engtech.ca/peisiteassessorquiz/

Please note that the exam will have other types of questions such as fill in the blank, true/false, permeability test calculation questions, lot categorization questions. There will also be questions based on the texture classification of actual soil samples.  

ACCESSING LAND ONLINE

It appears that it may take a day or two for the Dept. of Agriculture to issue a username and password for LandOnline. So if you didn’t apply early or didn’t already receive your login info, you can use Kelly’s account to login in the meantime. Otherwise, you won’t have access to some of the features (searching by PID #, contours). 

Username: ENTKAG10

PW: ENAG45

I find taking a screenshot of the map and saving the file on your computer is an effective way to do this.

On Windows PCs, you can use the “Snipping Tool”. On a Mac, you can take a screen shot with SHIFT+COMMAND +3. Then you can save your screen snip and add the test pit location, soil map unit labels, north arrow, and any other info you want in a drawing program like Paint or Google Slides or PhotoScape X. Or you can just print the map, and write on the soil type(s) if the labels were not in view in Land Online when you did the screen snip. 

 

ASSIGNMENT UPDATE:

The Site Assessment assignment will just be for two of the sites that we visited. Please pass in (or email) a complete site assessment package for each of the following sites:

 
1) Belle River property. 
2) Lower Montague, site #1 (the last site we looked at in the afternoon).   
 
For each site, submit one test pit log and whatever number of permeability tests you did to help determine the category that you assigned to the site. 
 
Treat each of these locations as a separate site assessment with a complete set of standard submission documents. 
 
Each site assessment report will be worth 15% of your overall mark or 30% total for the assignment. 
 
A copy of the government submission documents can be found here: 
 
Each Site Suitability Assessment submission should include the following documents:
 
  1. Registration Form – Site Suitability Assessment (included in the PDF file above). Make sure to indicate the soil/lot category at each test pit location. 
  2. Test Pit Record – please submit either a typed copy or a neatly handwritten copy. You can use either ETC’s test pit record, or the government’s Form A (included in the PDF file above). 
  3. Permeability detailed test data sheets – please submit either a typed copy or a neatly handwritten copy. 
  4. A new map that YOU obtained from Land Online showing the property boundaries, soil mapping, contours, rivers & streams layer (if any). Indicate the approximate location of your test pit on the map. 
  5. A Site Plan or Google Map with a north arrow showing the test pit location. Note: for a septic system registered document submission you need to submit a Site Plan showing the location of the proposed septic system and house/building. But if you are just submitting a Site Suitability Assessment registration then you can just use the Soil Map as your Site Plan. 
 

NOTE: Assume the assessment was done for the purpose of lot categorization only (not for an on-site sewage disposal permit), and the size of the dwelling (number of bedrooms) is not known at this time. Therefore, you should fill out the Registration Form, Section A for Site Suitability Assessment but you DO NOT need to fill in Section B – Sewage Disposal System Information or provide any information about the septic system for the assignment. 

Don’t forget to include a Soil Map (e.g. from Land Online) and a Site Plan (with north arrow) that shows the property (or portion thereof) that you assessed. 

If there is any information that you don’t have for the Registration Form such as property owner name, license #, case #, development permit #, etc., just make it up. e.g. John Doe, license #1234567, case #1234567, etc. 

 
Handing in your assignment

You may hand in a hard copy on the morning of the exam or deliver it to Kelly’s office in the Stratford Business Park (Google Map) before 5pm on exam day.  You can also email me your assignment or send links to your files (in one email please) by 5pm on exam day if you prefer. Email or share files with kelly@engtech.ca

If you are emailing your assignment, make sure you put your full name in any file names. Also, I would prefer that you send just one or two emails with the entire package with all the documents for the sites, to avoid me having to hunt around and piece together your assignment from several different emails! PDF file(s) with just the pages that apply (no extra pages) would be appreciated! 

Weds. July 10 – optional extra help day at Rodd Royalty Hotel

Kelly will be at the Rodd Royalty Hotel (Crowbush Room downstairs, same room as before) from 9am to 4pm apart from a lunch break from 12 noon to 1pm. Come and work on your site assessment assignment, get extra help, and get things clarified before the exam on Weds. morning. Drop in/out as you see fit. 

If you have soil samples from the test pits that you want assistance with texture-by-feel classification, bring those along. 

JULY 9 – FIELD WORK UPDATE: 

 

The last day of field work will be on Tuesday at a site in Albion / Lower Montague. We will be doing more test pits and permeability testing around the property so come prepared for that.
 
This site (#3) is a wooded property in Albion / Lower Montague. It is about a 50 minute drive from Charlottetown. Please arrive for 8:30am.
 
Navigate to the driveway for the civic address for 223 Thornton Rd, Montague, PE C0A 1R0 using this link:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/cZsgGAziJ9QaTetu9
 
We will be investigating several locations on the property. See image below from Land OnLine.
 There are some rough roads and trails going through the property, so it would be best if anyone without a truck just parked inside the property around location 2 shown in the green box on the map below. The rest of us will either hitch a ride with others, or walk to the various sites. Its only about a 5 to 10 min walk to each location.   

IT’S GOING TO BE HOT AND HUMID AGAIN! PLEASE DRESS AND PACK ACCORDINGLY! Pack water or whatever beverage you prefer to stay hydrated. Mosquitos may be an issue at the sites, so if you have a mosquito jacket, and bug spray, I recommend you wear them.

 

 The weather is likely to get hotter as the day goes on, so I recommend packing a lunch for a quick meal in our air conditioned cars so we can get finished as early as possible. Alternatively there are a couple of places along the highway on the way from Belle River to Earnscliffe if you want to buy lunch.

JULY 8 – FIELD WORK UPDATE: 

Field work at sites in eastern PEI starts Monday morning. We will be doing test pits and permeability testing so come prepared for that.

 

Site #1 is a wooded property in Belle River. It is about a 35 minute drive from Charlottetown. We will get started at 8:30am.

 

Navigate to the house at 3316 Douses Road in Belle River using this link.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/xRtjFzaL8QpzsRKE8

 

The site assessment property is located across the road from 3316 Douses Rd. There are no homes on the property. It’s been recently cut. There is a dirt road / driveway right down the middle and you can just drive right in. See image below from Google Maps.

JULY 8 – FIELD WORK UPDATE (Continued):

Site #2 is at McInnis Point in Earnscliffe. Navigate to the cottage at 69 Glenway Dr, Vernon Bridge, PE C0A 2E0 using this link:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/4khzbXQXKt1LcHLa9

 

Enter Glenway Dr. at the (crumbling) brick gates. The site assessment property will be across the road from that cottage. Park along the north portion of Glenway Drive.  See image below from Google Maps. Kelly’s family cottage is located just down the road at 143 Glenway Drive. Anyone needing to use the toilet is welcome to.

JULY 5 – FIELD WORK UPDATE: 

NO FIELD WORK ON SATURDAY – Heavy rain is forecast during the day on Saturday, so we won’t be doing any field work that day. Weather looks good for Monday and Tuesday. So be prepared for two full days doing test pits and permeability testing at sites in Lower Montague, Belle River and Earnscliffe. 

Exam on Thursday, July 11 will be open book…

The exam is open book, meaning you can and should bring your binder, field reference handouts, and if you want, a laptop or tablet with all your downloaded files on it. You should also bring a calculator, pencil, eraser, pen. I will have a few extra copies of the Soil Survey on hand.  I will have water bottles for the texture classification part of the exam.  

If you are emailing me your assignment…

If you are emailing your assignment, make sure you put your full name in any file names. Email to kelly@engtech.ca

Also, I would prefer that you send just one email with the entire package with all the documents for each of the 2 sites, to avoid me having to hunt around and piece together your assignment from several different emails which could result in something getting missed!

Alternatively, you can pass in your documents in person on exam day. 

 

 

Fillable Test Pit Record Forms

If you wish, here are links to some test pit record forms in a fillable spreadsheet format. One is in Google Sheets format and the second is in MicroSoft Excel format. You can download these and save them on your computer if you wish to type up your test pit record forms rather than just submitting them handwritten. 

ETC Test Pit Record, fillable spreadsheet (with example) in Google Sheets format

ETC Test Pit Record, fillable spreadsheet (with example) in MS Excel format

Also, here is an example showing how ETC fills in the test pit record sheet. 

Example filled out Test Pit Record

All of these links have also been added to Section 5 of the Binder Contents table below. 

 

Temperature correction factor (TCF)

If the permeability tests are well inside or outside of the permeable range, then the temperature correction isn’t going to make much difference as to whether the test passes or fails. But if it’s close to pass/fail, you should check the temperature correction as it may push it over the edge into a fail or pass.  

Note: You can apply the correction factor to the R (steady state rate of fall) value and then use that adjusted number to determine your Ka (temperature adjusted Kfs value) from the appropriate quick reference table. This is easier than multiplying the Kfs number (which is in scientific notation) by the correction factor.   

 

 SCHEDULE AND OTHER DETAILS:

Where:

    • In the “Crowbush” room on the lower level.

    • Field sites at various locations (to be confirmed, refer to links/maps below). Your own transportation will be required.

When: 

    • Thurs. July 4 – Classroom all day at Rodd Royalty Hotel. Please arrive between 8:00am and 8:20am for an 8:30am start. Allow time to pick up your course materials.  1 hour lunch break on your own.
    • Friday, July 5 – All day at Rodd Royalty Hotel. Classroom lecture on permeability testing and hands-on practice outside on the Rodd Hotel property. Also lab module practicing texture-by-feel testing. 8:30am start. 1 hour lunch break on your own.
    • Sat. July 6 – Tentative field work day, weather permitting. Location(s) TBD. Check back here for updates.
    • Mon. July 8 – Field work day, weather permitting.
    • Tues. July 9 – Field work day, weather permitting
    • Weds. July 10 – Optional day to work on assignments, get extra help, etc. at the Rodd Royalty Hotel. There are no planned lectures or presentations however Kelly will be there from 9:00am to 4:00pm (except for 1 hour lunch break). 
    • Thurs. July 11 – Exam (9:00am to 12pm) Rodd Royalty Hotel, in the “Crowbush” room, lower level.
 
 

For Days 1 and 2 in the classroom/lab (at the hotel), please bring the following:

    1. If you have not already paid for the course registration with credit card or PayPal through our webstore, please bring a cheque with you on the first day payable to Engineering Technologies Canada Ltd. for $1897.50 ($1650 + 15% HST). If you have not paid for your registration you will not be able to stay.
    2. (OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED) Laptop or tablet with fully charged battery for viewing large PDF files online such as the PEI Regulations, Construction Standards, PEI Soil Survey, etc. Go digital and save trees! There will be internet access at the Rodd Royalty Hotel, however it is recommended that you download the documents listed below ahead of time onto a laptop or tablet other device for easy viewing while at the course. A smartphone is not recommended for this purpose as the screen is very small and the detail in these documents will be hard to see.
    3. Calculator (or use app on your smartphone)
    4. Clipboard
    5. Pens, pencils, eraser
 

Documents to download ahead of time for the course (as mentioned above):

PEI SOIL SURVEY (1988) (219 pages)

Onsite Sewage Disposal Systems in PEI, Construction Standards Handbook (2013) (135 pages)

PEI Water Act – Sewage Disposal Systems Regulations (NEW 2021) (60 pages)

Alternatively, if you don’t have access to a laptop or tablet to access digital copies of documents, you should print off a hard copy of the above documents to bring to the course,  especially the PEI SOIL SURVEY and the PEI Construction Standards 2013, but they are large documents. You will need to refer to these for the homework assignments and when conducting site assessments and preparing your documentation. 

 

Checklist of items to bring on field work days: 

 

Please make sure you have these items for FIELD WORK DAYS:

    1. Measuring tape – metric (cm) preferred.
    2. Long shafted, Robertson screwdriver as a probe for checking soil density. (see photo example above)
    3. Flat adhesive/flooring trowel with 1/4″ wide square notches/teeth for scarifying test pit walls. (see photo example above) eg. like this one from Home Depot. Hardware stores and some Dollar stores also have these.
    4. Small hand trowel (garden section of Dollar Stores have lots of these) or a mini-shovel for digging out soil samples from test pit walls. (see photo above)
    5. Field reference sheets and ETC Pask Permeameter quick reference tables (handouts provided in your binder)
    6. Blank test pit logs and permeability test forms (in your binder)
    7. “Swag Bag” of items that you will receive on the first day (sand sizes card, water bottle with texture flow chart, soil sample bags, soil sample tags, twist ties, etc.)
    8. Calculator (or use app on your smartphone)
    9. Clipboard
    10. Pens, pencils, eraser
    11. 4 Liter plastic container filled with water for permeability testing. An empty windshield fluid container works well.
    12. Small log book or notebook for writing misc. notes. 
    13. Smartphone for locating test sites in the field using Google Maps (or use a GPS if you prefer). If you don’t own a smartphone…well…I respectfully suggest you consider getting one. It will allow you to take advantage of various features (such as the GPS and Google Maps) that will make your site assessments and reports easier.
    14. Personal small towel or rag and/or package of wipes, for drying, cleaning, hands.
    15. Clothing appropriate for the weather/conditions. You will be outside for several hours at a time. Work boots, (steel toe recommended), appropriate for being around heavy equipment (backhoe, excavator). Mosquito shirt and/or bug spray, sunscreen, water to drink. Note: If weather is light drizzle, field work will go ahead. So please dress accordingly!
    16. (Optional) Packed lunch if you don’t want to buy lunch at a nearby take-out or restaurant.
    17. Backpack/knapsack or similar is recommended for organizing and carrying all of the above items in your vehicle and around the field sites. 

As there will be several participants, it is recommended to label any personal hand tools, clipboards, notebooks, etc. with your name.

 

 

Land On-line web site (to access PEI GIS soil mapping, contours, properties, etc.):

You can access the site here:

https://peilandonline.baselinegeo.com/landonline/login.aspx

You are encouraged to register for a login asap (its free if you own land on PEI). However, if you don’t have a login, you can still use the web site but some search functionality will be reduced. You will be able to search by civic address but not by PID number.

Note: the PEI government plans to transition from this site to something else for the general public to be able to view GIS property data. However, as of this date, they cannot tell us when this will happen.

 

SECTION BELOW AND LINKS ARE UNDER CONSTRUCTION – SOME MAY NOT WORK, PLEASE CHECK BACK!
Below are links to PDF files of the complete PowerPoint Slide decks in colour, and other handouts included in your binder. These are mainly for reference and download. You do not have to download these right away, if you don’t want to. However it is recommended that you download the PowerPoint slide decks at least, and have them with you for writing the exam.

Binder Section Contents

Binder Tab #
PEI Site Assessment Field Reference Sheets

1
Tables and Checklists for Site Assessment Planning and Activities

2

PEI Soil Survey, 1988 (excerpts) (10 pages)

3

Example grain size (sieve) analysis reports

4

ETC Blank Test Pit Record (field form)

ETC Test Pit Record, fillable spreadsheet (with example) in Google Sheets format

ETC Test Pit Record, fillable spreadsheet (with example) in MS Excel format

Example filled out Test Pit Record (ETC)

Blank Pask Permeameter test forms (ETC)

ETC Pask Permeameter Test Record Sheet, fillable spreadsheet in Google Sheets format

ETC Pask Permeameter Test Record, fillable spreadsheet in MS Excel format

Test pit & Permeameter test forms (from PEI Construction Standards)

Maps for course field test sites (Land Online, location and/or survey maps).

5

Pask Permeameter practice problems

PEI Pask Permeameter Table B-2 from PEI Construction Standards

Dynamic Monitors ETC Pask Permeameter Quick Field Reference Tables (Kfs in cm/sec)

6
PRESENTATION HANDOUTS (selected slides for reference)  

Welcome & Introduction to Site Assessment 

Land Online and Preliminary Office Assessment

7

Soil Texture

Soil Structure

8
In Situ Permeability Testing with the Pask Permeameter

9

Colour Patterns in Soil Profiles and What They Mean (Redoximorphic features/mottling, and other indicators of high groundwater tables

Disposal Field Selection

10

Other links to excerpts from the PEI Construction Standards or Regulations:

Standard submissions documents from Appendix H of PEI Construction Standards

Disposal field length selection tables from Appendix G of PEI Construction Standards 2013

 

Course grading

A minimum overall course grade of 75% is required to pass the course and be eligible for a Site Assessor License (assuming all other government eligibility criteria are met). This grade requirement was determined in consultation with the PEI government. The final overall course mark will be based on 70% of the final exam mark and 30% of the hand-in site assignment mark.  

 

Pask Calculator App Beta v1.1

This app is currently in its beta testing phase. As such, it is still undergoing development and may contain bugs or experience instability. We strongly advise against relying on this app for critical tasks at this time. Your feedback is invaluable to us during this testing period, and we appreciate your understanding and patience as we work to improve the app.

The beta version of the app can be downloaded from the links below. You must follow the instructions to enable the app for use, as it is not yet published.

Android

Android Download:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19_9qA4GwKCxm9V5qbLCWSFfFZIn3MJPV/view?usp=sharing

Samsung devices

    1. On your device, tap Settings > Apps.

    1. At the top-right, tap Vertical ellipsis..

    1. Tap Special access > Install unknown apps.

    1. Tap the browser from where you will download the APK, such as Chrome.

    1. If prompted, toggle Allow from this source on.

Non-Samsung devices

    1. On your device, go to Settings.

    1. Tap Apps & notifications > Advanced.

    1. Tap Special app access.

    1. Tap Install unknown apps.

    1. Tap the browser from where you will download the APK, such as Chrome.

    1. If prompted, toggle Allow from this source on.

 

iOS/iPhone

    1. Click on paskapp-beta-v1-1.trueweb.ca
    2. While viewing the website, tap the Share button in the menu bar.
    3. Scroll down the list of options, then tap Add to Home Screen.
      If you don’t see Add to Home Screen, you can add it. Scroll down to the bottom of the list, tap Edit Actions, then tap  Add to Home Screen.

In Safari, the Share button on a website has been tapped, displaying a list of options, including Add to Home Screen.

Breaks, responding to calls, texts 

In addition to a 1 hour lunch break (approx. 12 noon to 1pm each day), on classroom/lab days there will be 15 min. mid-morning and mid-afternoon “coffee/bio-breaks”. Where possible, additional 5 min breaks will be offered to allow attendees to respond to urgent texts or phone calls but please try and deal with work matters during regular breaks or at lunch. If you must make or take a call during the lectures or instruction, please leave the room so as to not disturb other attendees. 

 

Contact details for the course instructor, Kelly Galloway and other ETC staff are as follows:

Kelly Galloway – kelly@engtech.ca | 902-940-0616 cell

Kelly Galloway & ETC’s Company Bio

Ellen Fraser – ellen.fraser@engtech.ca | 902-916-3519 cell

Cathy McInnis – cathy.mcinnis@engtech.ca | 902-393-3556 cell

Please text or email if you cannot find the answer to your question on this web page.  Please call only if it is urgent. 

END