Image: City of Chilliwack / After inviting prospective companies to potentially bid on preliminary engineering design services for a project that would build a pedestrian bridge extending Williams Street across Hope Slough and into Fairfield Island, the City of Chilliwack has narrowed its list down to three companies. According to agenda 7.1 from Tuesday's city council meeting, city staff have been authorized by council to forward request for proposal (RFP) documents to Morrison Hershfield Limited, Parsons Inc., and ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd. The objective of the project is to provide engineering design solutions to provide a bridge for pedestrian and cyclist facilities across Hope Slough at Williams Street. 

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Williams Street pedestrian bridge

City of Chilliwack invites 3 companies to compete for preliminary engineering design services for pedestrian bridge

Dec 7, 2023 | 12:45 PM

CHILLIWACK — After inviting prospective companies to potentially bid on engineering design services for a project that would build a pedestrian bridge extending Williams Street across Hope Slough and into Fairfield Island, the City of Chilliwack has narrowed its list down to three companies.

According to agenda 7.1 from Tuesday’s city council meeting, city staff have been authorized by council to forward request for proposal (RFP) documents to Morrison Hershfield Limited, Parsons Inc., and ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd.

Funding has already been allocated within the 2023 Financial Plan for this engineering design services project.

The city specified in a staff report from Kara Jeffords, director of engineering for the city of Chilliwack, that the objective of the project is to provide engineering design solutions to provide a bridge for pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure across Hope Slough at Williams Street. At the same time, the proponent will be tasked with considering cost effectiveness and the performance of the designs.

The proponent services will consist of:

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• Determining the most appropriate bridge type predicated upon on span length, bridge abutment and/or pier locations, aesthetics and cost effectiveness.
• Submitting a detailed comparison analysis of alternatives with cost estimates and recommended solutions for consideration
• Consulting with BC Hydro about clearance with existing overhead utility lines
• Communicating and collaborating for agency environmental/other approvals and community impacts
• Furnishing a recommended implementation schedule for completing the public works
• Providing preliminary design drawings with sufficient detail and dimension information so as to provide future proponents carrying out a design-build assignment for the construction of these works, with the needed detail criteria to complete a full Engineering construction design
• Facilitating and producing executive level reports including Class B project cost estimates

Jeffords wrote in her staff report that the anticipated budget for the engineering preliminary design work will amount to between $100,000 and $150,000.

In response to a question from Councillor Chris Kloot at Tuesday’s meeting, Jeffords advised council that the overall project would not be done before the end of 2024. The city hopes to have substantial completion of the design by August 15, 2024.