PACIFIC SMALL CRAFT HARBOURS (SCH) PROJECTS
Click to read original press release
BACKGROUNDER
Funds totalling $9.8 million will be invested at a number of small craft harbours throughout British Columbia.
Approximately $8 million will be directed to the various projects throughout the province, with specific project initiatives outlined below. A further $1.8 million will be dedicated to harbour services and support for local Harbour Authorities involved in harbour management, in addition to program delivery and implementation activities.
$250,000 Environmental and fire safety initiatives
These initiatives include development and implementation of environmental management approaches with participating Harbour Authorities to ensure responsible environmental stewardship of harbours. In addition, this initiative will provide for environmental signage, run-off and storm water separators, oil spill equipment and other supplies to address environmental stewardship issues and to protect property.
The fire safety initiatives include upgrading fire detection and prevention systems, installing low-cost dry fire lines to assist immediate response by local fire departments, adding cut-outs in wharves, and providing specialized nozzles to fight fires under wharves.
Harbours and communities benefiting from the funds this year include: Deep Bay, Ford Cove, Porpoise Bay, Port Alberni, Powell River, Prince Rupert Fairview and Winter Harbour.
$400,000 Float and Gangway Maintenance Projects
The repair and replacement of individual floats that have degraded throughout the years will be undertaken at a number of harbours, including Fanny Bay, Ladysmith, Madeira Park, Port McNeill, Queen Charlotte City and Sointula. Deterioration to the floats is the result of wear, weather and marine boring organisms.
Gangway safety and access will also be improved at harbours throughout the region. Sites including Ford Cove, Klemtu, Marktosis, Port Hardy, Prince Rupert Rushbrook and Steveston (Gulf of Georgia), will benefit from the repair or, as necessary, replacement of the gangways.
$100,000 Provision of sanitary services
The projects will support the design and installation of sewage interception facilities at small craft harbours administered by Harbour Authorities throughout B.C. Many of these projects are jointly funded and delivered by the Harbour Authorities in cooperation with the Small Craft Harbours program. Projects this year may include washrooms at Alert Bay, Ford Cove, Kelsey Bay, Okeover and Quathiaski Cove harbours, and sanitary vessel pumpouts at Ladysmith and Port Edward harbours.
$971,100 Minor works program
Minor works funding, allocated to various harbour activities by geographical sector, includes $364,000 for Central Coast; $336,600 for South Coast; $215,500 for Lower Fraser River; and $55,000 for North Coast.
Work at the facilities typically includes replacement of worn, infested or rotten timbers in wharves or other marine structures, electrical system repairs and repair of damage caused by storms.
Preventive maintenance avoids major repair costs, loss of fishing gear, damage to fishing vessels, potential pollution and loss of services to users of the facilities. Local Harbour Authorities, contractors and suppliers in the coastal communities usually carry out these projects.
$1,290,000 Lower Fraser Area Projects
Fraser River Redredging and Dolphin Pile Repairs: These projects will address the basin dredging needs of the five Fraser River small craft harbours sites. As well, the extensive deterioration and stress damage experienced by dolphin piles at these sites, which has reduced the overall strength and effectiveness of these structures, will be addressed.
Specifically, maintenance dredging and dolphin repairs will be completed at the Kanaka, Mission, McIvors Landing and Whonnock harbours.
Steveston (Paramount) Dredging: The 2004/05 basin dredging needs of the Nelson Pond area of the Steveston (Paramount) harbour will be addressed under this project. Redredging will ensure the harbour maintains an adequate depth to continue to serve harbour users.
Steveston (Gulf of Georgia): This project will improve the existing electrical system of the harbour. Upgrade to a three-phase system will help to minimize safety hazards for harbour users, in part through prevention of stray electrical currents that can lead to vessel damage and potential fire risks.
Steveston (Paramount): There are three projects proposed for this site, including first-phase installation of dry fire lines and blockings to prevent the spread of fire; reconstruction of the floats, including replacement of flanges, cross-timbers, deck planks, bull rails and flotation, as required; and, the third phase of a boat yard containment project, which will resurface a section of the boat repair yard to prevent pollutant runoff from entering the harbour.
$887,000 - Central Coast Area Projects
Bella Coola: This project will improve wave protection for the harbour through the installation of a new floating breakwater adjacent to the current log bundle breakwater, and the repair of the current breakwater mooring system. This project will ensure that both the harbour and user vessels are protected from the local wave climate and storm activity.
Campbell River: The existing electrical system, which has deteriorated and become outdated, will be repaired and upgraded to provide reliable service at the harbour and to reduce the risk of fire/shock hazards and power outages on site.
Heriot Bay: This is a general maintenance project to repair worn areas of the floats and the existing float mooring system by replacing deteriorated pile dolphins, which represent an eventual safety risk to moored vessels.
Kelsey Bay: The shoreline of the harbour has severely eroded and rock fill will be used to stabilize the area and prepare it for future use. The proposed work for this harbour will increase the usable upland areas and provide a foundation for future washroom and office facilities.
Lund: This project will enhance the current float mooring system at the harbour. The floating breakwater mooring components will also be addressed in order to ensure a cost effective, long lasting solution is put in place to address mooring system issues at this harbour.
Port McNeill: To address deterioration and recently sustained storm damage, maintenance repairs and reconstruction work will be carried out at the loading wharf this year. Planned structural repairs include replacement of piles, pile caps, stringers, as well as repairs to flanges and decking components, as required. Design features will also mitigate future storm damage potential and ensure that current loading capacities are maintained for future use.
Sointula: This year, first phase work on repairs to the harbour wharf deck and superstructure will be carried out, including replacement of most of the deteriorated piles, stringers, bracing and handrails, and repair of the worn areas of the existing timber deck.
$1,610,000 - South Coast Area Projects
Ahousat (Marktosis): This project consists of repairs and maintenance to structural components of the approach, floats and gangway at the harbour, which fronts the Ahousaht First Nation community. This work will ensure that the safety of the facility is maintained.
Cowichan Bay: Storm water run-off and drift of ocean sediment has resulted in the gradual infill of the harbour basin. Redredging of key areas of the basin this year will help ensure the harbour can continue to operate and serve users at current capacity.
Deep Bay: Two projects are planned at or near the Deep Bay harbour. To address extended wear and major marine organism infestation, harbour floats will be repaired. Dry fire lines will also be installed and the fresh water system upgraded, in order to bring harbour floats to a fully serviceable standard.
A second proposed project consists of support for the Qualicum First Nation in the re-interment of ancestral remains and finalization of the archaeological studies initiated following the discovery of an ancestral burial site near the harbour.
Egmont: This float project will address the effects of wear to the mooring chains and anchors from strong tidal currents and wave action. With the reconstruction and strengthening of the float mooring system, the life of the floats will be greatly improved and future maintenance costs reduced.
Ganges (Outer Harbour): Harbour floats at this site will undergo reconfiguration, including re-installation of the mooring chains and piles where appropriate, to accommodate the local wave climate and allow for most efficient use of the harbour.
Ford Cove: With this project the harbourıs float mooring system will be reconstructed and the orientation of the floats will be optimized to alleviate structural stress, increase safety and improve the protection of moored vessels, while decreasing long-term maintenance costs.
Powell River South: This project will include construction of a new tidal grid to replace the previous boat grid facility, which was removed after modifications to the rock mound breakwater last year. The new grid will also incorporate modifications aimed at enhancing its environmental performance.
Port Alberni: To assist the local Harbour Authority in meeting the needs of harbour users and reducing the potential risk of an electrical fire, this upgrade project to the existing harbour electrical system will ensure adequate electrical supply to the harbour and address fire safety and shock risk concerns.
Secret Cove: Deteriorating and stress-damaged harbour floats will be repaired and the mooring system improved under this project, which will include the use of a rope and elastic hawser system in place of the existing anchor chains, providing a significant reduction in future maintenance costs for the harbour.
Tofino: The offloading and boat launching ramp at the Tofino harbour is regularly used by fishers, shellfish growers, private contractors and recreational users, generating significant revenues for the harbour and Tofino area. This project will rebuild and reinforce the boat launch addressing the deterioration of this facility from heavy use over the years.
Ucluelet (Itatsoo): This project will address maintenance of the floats, gangway and wharf approach at the harbour, which fronts the main community of the Ucluelet First Nation.
Ucluelet (West): The proposed project will reconstruct structural members of the harbour floats to address deterioration, reduce long-term repair costs, and increase moorage capacity at this busy harbour.
$2,470,000 - North Coast Area Projects
Port Edward: This multi-year project will include the construction of a drive-on concrete floating wharf, which will provide a long term loading facility. A floating concrete wharf will replace the current creosote timber wharf, which will provide improved alternative loading and mooring function, as well as long-term savings in maintenance compared to the timber structures. The floating wharf will also act as a breakwater providing improved wave protection for the existing harbour basin. As a result of this project, the Port Edward facility will be safer, more efficient, and will have a significantly reduced fire and environmental risk.
The second phase of the project involves construction to better facilitate loading and other service area activities, while also improving capture of non-point source pollution into harbour waters.
Porpoise Bay: A second phase project, this yearıs work will complete the construction of the new concrete composite deck at the harbour. The remaining existing timber deck will be removed, damaged stringers will be replaced and a new concrete deck will be installed. This will ensure adequate load capacity, lower long-term maintenance costs, and allow for continued full use of the harbour.
Prince Rupert (Fairview): This project includes reconstruction of the harbour wharf to address deficiencies in the wharf superstructure and work in the harbour service area to increase the usable space. Potential foreshore environmental issues will also be mitigated through the installation of an oil separator to intercept run-off from the wharf and adjacent upland and installation of a sub-deck platform to enable sanitary equipment to be mounted in the future. In addition, the fire protection services will be upgraded through the installation of a hydrant to bring the required water pressure to the wharf head for use in fire fighting.
Queen Charlotte City: This project will repair the east harbour floats and provide improved access to the existing floats. A new landing float will be installed and deteriorated structural members, bull rails and decking will be repaired. An alternate access will also be installed to accommodate a longer gangway ramp intended to alleviate congestion and provide safer access to the floats.
