Big Bar landslide response information bulletin

June 19 2020

On this page

• Ongoing onsite operations
• Update on fish monitoring
• Current images of work being done at the landslide site

Ongoing onsite operations

High winds and rain persisted throughout last week, forcing the rescheduling of some work onsite. Despite the conditions, the installation of the Whooshh Passage Portal™ is nearing completion at the West Beach.

Testing and preparation is underway for the full operation of the Whooshh™ system, including:

• installation of vertical sliding panels within the concrete fish ladder to separate and isolate fish for transport
• pouring cement to provide a durable floor within the holding and turning pools of the ladder
• connecting the last of the first phase Whooshh™ modules
• mounting the remaining hanger braces for the fish transport tubes
• running the tube suspension cables from the Whooshh™ platform to the hanger braces
• suspending the first tubes in their hangers
• testing the concrete fish ladder and Whooshh™ system’s water pumps

Update on fish monitoring

To date, 41 fish have been successfully radio tagged. The sonar downstream of the Big Bar ferry has only detected small numbers of chinook in the vicinity of the slide. No salmon have been detected upstream of the slide, at the Churn sonar station.

In an effort to significantly increase the understanding of fish movement and behaviour near the slide site, the monitoring team is exploring options to improve data and information collection in the vicinity. Accordingly, they installed a second sonar on the west bank of the Fraser River to better understand fish entry into the slide area. As well, First Nations fish technicians are assembling a fish wheel downstream of the Big Bar ferry to provide an additional fish-capture system. This method will allow the team to capture and radio tag fish in the slide area.

Current images of work being done at the landslide site