Big Bar landslide response information bulletin
February 22 2021
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- -40 C and chilly
- Winter conditions at Big Bar
- Roadwork contract awarded to Prime Quality Construction
- Current images of work being done at the landslide site
-40 C and chilly
Temperatures were cold but a successful ‘trim blast’ stirred things up at Big Bar this week. On February 13, the team was smiling after a successful blast of the canyon wall to straighten the future path of the permanent fishway. On February 14, crews also completed additional blasting of the Razorback and began excavating various grades of rock required for construction.
Other work included finalizing the grade of the embankment on which the structure will be built.
Winter conditions at Big Bar
Temperatures at site reached -40 C with heavy snowfall and freezing rain causing periodic shutdowns. These interruptions have affected the timeline for some of the cliff stabilization work and the upcoming pile driving for the north end of the fishway. To make up time, the prime contractor, Peter Kiewit Sons ULC, has added double shifts in some areas.
Water levels vary considerably in the Fraser River throughout the year. However, the levels have consistently dropped since December and crews have been able to access the river bed and perform in-river work necessary to build the fishway. The brief, critical window between December and April allow crews to finish the winter work before the snow melts and freshet occurs again. Operations will then shift to assisted transport of the early migrating fish that will be blocked by the slide.
Commencing and continuing construction on the permanent fishway during the winter low water remains essential to improving the survival of early migrating salmon stocks.
Roadwork contract awarded to Prime Quality Construction
On January 21, the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNR) awarded a road upgrade contract to Prime Quality Construction Inc. (PQC) following a competitive bid. PQC is an Indigenous owned company operated by a member of the High Bar First Nation.
In the coming months, based on a FLNR design, PQC will widen and realign the Chinook Main road that connects Beach One to the French Bar Creek area (see map). The improved road will be safer for crews and allow trucks carrying custom 17,000-litre fish tanks to pass during the critical fish “trap and transport” operations. PQC will also install radio communications towers at regular intervals along the road so truck drivers can coordinate during fish transport operations.
Rock sorting is underway here and this material will then be used on the road to French Bar Creek to re-slope cut banks, widen the road and create pullout areas for work trucks. In some areas, vertical walls made from soil, fabric and wire frames, also known as Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Walls (GRS), will be used to support the road instead of the rock fill. The GRS will provide additional stability by containing the material below the road as their vertical orientation uses space more efficiently than rock fills, which need to be sloped.
Current images of work being done at the landslide site
Additional images of the work underway as part of our response efforts can be seen on the Government of BC’s Flickr channel.
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