Demolition and construction of a large portion of the north breakwater is expected to begin next week in Okanagan Centre Safe Harbour Regional Park.
To prepare, the contractor (Burton Marine Pile Driving Inc.) will begin moving a barge and other equipment into place early next week.
It’s anticipated the breakwater construction will be substantially complete by April 20th and some minor clean-up of the park will take place during the following week. The park and its main boat launch are located on Okanagan Centre Road West in Lake Country.
Communications Officer Bruce Smith says, “We don’t anticipate any lengthy closure of the park and its main boat launch during the construction. However, a portion of the parking area south of the main launch will be cordoned off during construction for storage of equipment and materials and staging.”
He adds, “At this time of year there isn’t a huge demand for the facility’s boat launch. However, there are boaters that still do use the launch and may find some temporary, intermittent closures during construction while equipment is being repositioned or adjusted and while construction materials are being delivered or off-loaded. We expect any closures will be minimal and we ask for the patience and cooperation of park users, boaters and other visitors to ensure their safety and that of construction workers. Boaters should also be aware there may be floating materials stored temporarily inside the harbour area during construction.”
The new steel pile supported concrete waffle panel breakwater will replace about 40-meters (131 feet or 70 per cent) of the aging 56-meter un-treated wood pile structure that has been in place since it was replaced in the mid-90’s by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans before transferring the assets to the Regional District. The Federal Government Community Infrastructure Improvement Fund is providing $150,000 toward this project. In addition, last fall the Regional Board approved reallocating slightly more than $123,000 for the north breakwater demolition and reconstruction as another previously approved project was not able to be completed during 2013 due to circumstances beyond the Regional District’s control. The Regional Board will be asked to consider approving funds to complete the remaining 16-meters of the breakwater in this year’s Financial Plan.
During the early summer of 2012, Burton Marine successfully replaced the south breakwater with steel pilings and concrete waffle panels.