Garden River First Nation Supplies Aggregate for Highway 17A Rehab
Garden River First Nation is supplying graded aggregate for a 16-km rehabilitation of Highway 17A near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, a job that needs close to 100,000 tonnes of base aggregate, 170,000 tonnes of subgrade material and 100,000 tonnes of asphalt dust and Superpave, Equipment Journal reports. Resurfacing began in late 2025 and is scheduled to finish in 2028.
The community bought a Kleemann plant train to meet tonnage and grain-quality demands: a Mobicat MC 110 EVO2 jaw crusher, two Mobicone MCO 90 EVO2 cone crushers, two Mobiscreen MSC 953 EVO screening plants and a Mobibelt stacker. Chris Morettin, the band’s Business Entities Manager, said the old crusher could not produce products like Superpave to Ontario Ministry of Transportation requirements. A financial analysis showed the equipment would pay for itself over the life of the project. Thirteen people now work in materials processing.
The article does not name the project owner or prime contractor. It says only that the band was “partnered into” the project.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Aggregate and crushing subs: A First Nation-owned supplier is now producing MTO-spec material on Highway 17A through 2028. Competing supply bids in the Sault Ste. Marie area face a producer whose financial analysis shows the plant paying for itself over the life of the project.
- Paving and haul subs: The demand figures (170,000 tonnes subgrade, 100,000 tonnes base, 100,000 tonnes asphalt dust and Superpave) set the haul and placement volume. Ask the prime, which the source does not name, about trucking and placement packages, since a job of this size needs operators, laborers and surveyors.
- Partnership route: Garden River already supplied all aggregate for 20 new band homes last year. On this job the band was brought in as a project partner, so subs pursuing Ontario highway work may want to engage Indigenous-owned producers early.
