In the world of building and engineering, it still seems to be a male-dominated industry, but a former Valley resident has been breaking ground in this field, as she is building infrastructure for the future. Sarah Soprovich has completed her Masters in Engineering and has worked on projects in Canada and the United States.
Her interest in engineering came from her love of math and science in school.
“We moved to Swan River from Winnipeg in 1991 when I was one year old,” said Sarah Soprovich. “As a kid, I was mostly interested in sports, playing volleyball, basketball, and fastball, as well as snowboarding at Thunder Hill. I graduated from the Swan Valley Regional Secondary School in 2008 and moved to Winnipeg to do my Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Manitoba, followed by my Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering at the University of Calgary. I’ve always wanted to do my Masters and my employer was willing to help financially for a Masters in Engineering. It was a course-based program and I mainly took courses in Project Management.
“I was always really strong in math and science in school. I initially thought that I wanted to be an architect, but my high school physics teacher told me that the engineers were the ones who applied the science and that I should look into that instead.”
There are several different fields in engineering, and if one is not in that industry, it’s quite easy to assume it’s all the same thing when it’s not.
“Engineering is effectively the practice of using science, math, and technology to solve problems,” said Soprovich. “Civil engineering is very broad but usually refers to the design of infrastructure that the public regularly uses. Civil engineering can include structural transportation, water treatment, hydrology, hydraulics, and geotechnicals.
“I’m a structural engineer and am mainly focused on bridge design, so the majority of my projects have included bridge and structure design. I have worked for Stantec Consulting Ltd. for my entire career. I started with them as a summer student between my fourth and fifth years of university.”
Soprovich started her career in civil engineering in Manitoba but has worked on several keynote projects in Calgary and in Chicago as well.
“I actually started in Winnipeg, and it included a lot of construction inspection on rural and urban bridge replacement projects, along with some design and eventually project management,” said Soprovich.
“When I moved to Calgary, I was involved in a few projects, including the Green Line, which is the design of Calgary’s future LRT line running north-south through the city; the design of the Airport Trail Overpass, which is a two-span concrete bridge on 19th Street over Airport Trail; and two pedestrian tunnels at 90th Avenue and Southland Drive.
“Chicago was amazing,” said Soprovich. “I moved to Chicago in 2019, to work on the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red and Purple Modernization project, which is the largest and most high-profile project I have ever worked on. I was leading a segment of the project that included 2 km of new structure and track, as well as four new stations and two temporary stations on the Red and Purple lines of the El Train, Chicago’s transit.
“I joined the project about six months in, which was pretty wild, and ended up having to come back to Canada in March 2020, while continuing to work on the project remotely for about three more years. The project is still under construction and we won an award in May 2023, due to the number of women we had leading the project, which is rare in engineering.
“As a result, I was able to travel back down to Chicago for the awards ceremony and see how construction has progressed,” said Soprovich. “The project was very high-stress, but I met some of my best friends at Stantec due to it.”
Soprovich is back residing in Winnipeg and working on a lot of municipal projects. These projects are smaller in scale than some of the projects she was a part of in Calgary and in Chicago.
“Since I have started working in Winnipeg again, the projects are a bit smaller scale than what I have worked on elsewhere, but it is still rewarding to complete projects in rural communities,” said Soprovich. “In 2022, there was significant flooding in Manitoba and I spent much of the summer inspecting damaged bridges and culverts. We have now moved on to replacing this infrastructure and I have completed or am working on projects in the Town of Neepawa and the Municipalities of Souris-Glenwood, Ethelbert, and Lorne.”
Out of all the projects Soprovich has been a part of during her career, the one that stands out the most was the one in Chicago.
“The Chicago project is absolutely the largest and most high-profile project I have worked on,” said Soprovich. “It is a $2 billion design-build project and we worked hand in hand with both the contractor and the owner.”
Working in civil engineering is still a male-dominated field, but Soprovich has been working hard at training and mentoring women to become engineers. Slowly the field of engineering is becoming more diverse as more women are entering studies in university.
“Civil engineering is one of the more diverse engineering fields, but it is still primarily male,” said Soprovich. “I’m on a few committees that are trying to address this, and the goal overall is for 30 percent of the engineering field to be female by 2030; however, progress has been slow moving. On my current team, I have two female Engineers In Training (EIT) and a female student. I’m very passionate about providing them mentorship for their careers.”
Soprovich is part of a couple of initiatives that are geared toward getting more women into the field of engineering and consulting.
“The Association of Consulting Engineering Companies Canada - Technical Women in Consulting Engineering (ACEC-TWICE) is actually more focused around retention and growth of women in the consulting field,” said Soprovich. “A lot of what we do is promote awareness, often through hosting events with speakers, networking, and a yearly reception in March.
“I’m also involved with two committees with Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba (EGM)- Engineering Changes Lives and the 2030 Coalition, which are both focused on increasing diversity in the industry and meeting that 30 percent goal by 2030.”
Soprovich recently won the 2023 Early Achievement Award for her work in the industry. She was recognized by her peers working in the industry and so far, it’s the start of more big things to come for her career.
“This was through our professional association, EGM,” said Soprovich. “It was really an honour to be acknowledged for my hard work, and I am truly grateful for the team and mentors I have at Stantec who have supported the development of my career thus far.
“I would like to continue to work on large, multi-disciplinary projects both locally and across the country, and continue to see the work that I do come to life to make other’s lives easier.”

The Valley Stage Players entertained local live theatre lovers with their presentation of Farce of Nature, written by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, and directed by Denis Beaudoin. The Arkansas backwoods-set comedy featured out-of-their-element visitors connected to the Chicago mob, along with plenty of farcical misunderstandings, double entendres and hilarity...

William Miner looks to make a play from behind the net in Friday’s 3-2 Clippers win over the Vincent Massey Vikings. Ronin Mouck, Liam Chartrand and Cody Zurba scored for Dauphin, while Owen Chubka made 18 saves to earn the win in goal.

The two teams met again, Sunday in Brandon, where a four-goal second period lifted the Vikings to a 7-4 win.

Tyron Sweetman, Zurba, Mouck and Jesse Hockridge had Dauphin’s goals and Chubka made 41 saves in the loss. The Clippers remain in first place with an 8-2-1-0 record, one point ahead of Vincent Massey.

Dauphin is set to host the Manitoba High School Athletic Association AAA girls and boys volleyball provincials, this weekend at Credit Union Place.

Twenty-four teams will be competing for a provincial title. The last time provincials were held in Dauphin, the Clippers senior girls were crowned provincial champions.

In the most recent Top 10 rankings, the Dauphin Clippers senior girls were ranked fourth in the province.

Coach Chris Wolfenden feels the team is ready for provincials.

“We had a team function (Thursday) night and I think the excitement level is really high, for sure, with the girls. We’ve had some really good weeks of preparation. So I think we are ready, actually,” he said. “I think it’s a group that’s feeling confident and excited to play the game together and achieve something that hasn’t been there in the past. So I think the girls are excited about it.”

The team has been practicing three days a week and competed in six tournaments, which has allowed them to improve since the start of the season.

“So they put in a lot of time. I think the girls are understanding all of the concepts and team systems so much better now that they don’t have to think about those things. They can be free in the matches and be themselves. So the girls definitely improved a lot,” Wolfenden said.

The tournament will take place in a different venue than the teams are used to, often competing in school gymnasiums. But Wolfenden doesn’t think there will be much of an adjustment to playing in such a large venue.

Get the full story in this week's Dauphin Herald, which includes a special centre spread for the tournament!

The Dauphin Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE) program is gearing up for its 31st year of getting people home safely during the holiday season.

Started by the late John Shuttleworth and RCMP Sgt. Ron Marlin, the program was the first of its kind in Manitoba and led the way for other communities to develop similar initiatives.

Operating out of the Dauphin Friendship Centre, RIDE gets underway, Dec. 1, and will run each Friday and Saturday night in December, except for Dec. 29 and 30, providing those who have been celebrating with alcohol or cannabis a safe way home.

Even the smallest amount of alcohol or cannabis can impair judgment, especially for someone behind the wheel of a vehicle.

To prevent that, RIDE volunteers will pick you and your vehicle up from a provided location. They will then drive you and your vehicle to your destination, preferably your home residence.

This is the first year the program has operated since Shuttleworth’s death, making it a bittersweet time for organizers.

“Dad founded the program back in 1992, so the program meant so much to him. He was not mobile for the last few years, but every night he would always call me the following morning and ask ‘did you have lots of volunteers?’ ‘Were the volunteers fed?’ Did you have lots of callers coming in?’ He was always so concerned about making sure that his volunteers were taken care of and that we were saving lives,” said his daughter Sho-Sho Shuttleworth-Lafontaine, who is now spearheading the program. “As tough as this year is going to be for me and our immediate family that volunteer . . . this is a year that we really are doing it in remembrance of dad and making sure that we carry on because it was so important to him.”

As in past years, the program is looking for additional volunteers and sponsors.

“A lot of our volunteers have retired from the program, so we are looking for more volunteers and with that, of course, they need a valid driver’s license and the RCMP will set them up for a free abstract and criminal records check,” Shuttleworth-Lafontaine said. “And a vehicle is not required, just a driver’s license.”

Main sponsors of the RIDE program are Manitoba Public Insurance, Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, Parkland RCMP and the Dauphin Friendship Centre, but more are welcome, she added.

“Fuel prices have gone up and food prices, everything has gone up. So anyone who’s willing to do a monetary donation, we are more than willing to accept that,” she said. “We have already had several businesses in town step up for cash donations. I know Countryfest has also stepped up as a board to volunteer and has issued a challenge to the Ukrainian Festival board to also step up, And it would be nice to see the community challenge many boards and see if they’d like to come out, not for the whole season even. If they decide to do one weekend or one night we’d be glad to have them. It all helps.”

Anyone wanting to volunteer for the program or provide some sponsorship can leave a message for Shuttleworth-Lafontaine at 204-638-1463.

Those wanting to make use of RIDE services on the nights it is running, can access a safe ride home with your vehicle by calling 204-638-5707.

Above, Colton McLeod, 13, performs his rendition of Steve Earle’s Copperhead Road to open Bruce-a-Palooza, Sunday at the Watson Arts Centre.

The event was a musical tribute and fund-raiser for Bruce Leperre, top, whose support of grassroots music is well known throughout the music industry.

Leperre was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and the funds will go towards covering mounting costs not covered by the health system, as well as allowing him to live in his home for as long as possible.

Winning a world championship is never easy. In rodeo, it takes amazing athletic feats and a little bit of luck.

Orin Larsen has been close to claiming that Montana Silversmiths gold buckle. In 2019, he finished just behind titlist Clayton Biglow. Three years prior to that, he was third in the final world standings.

Find out more in this week’s issue.

When Melissa Taylor found out “Ted the Barber’s” house and detached barber shop were up for sale, she made an offer on the property as soon as she was able to.

Taylor had been living and working in Edmonton – Covid forced her to quit her eyebrow microblading business in Roblin and head out west to find a job – and had been looking for a way to “come home” and start up her shop again.

Read the rest of the story in this week’s Review.

The Manitoba government, joined by community leaders from across the province, laid out its plan Tuesday to work together, strengthen health care, lower costs for families and grow the province’s low-carbon economy in the speech from the throne.

“Today is a new day in our province,” said Premier Wab Kinew.

Find out what the NDP government is planning in this issue.

The Smellie Block in Russell – the home of Gambler First Nation’s admin offices – was the setting of a historic announcement Nov. 10 as Gambler First Nation announced a million-dollar donation to its newly inaugurated John James Tanner Legacy Foundation through the Potash and Agri Development Corporation of Manitoba.

The foundation was created to provide crucial educational, financial, social and psychological support to the children and families of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, men, boys, two-spirited, and LBGTQIA individuals during times of crisis.

Want to know more? Check out this week’s paper.