Image: Supplied by C. Burns / Sections of the damaged Salmon Ridge Trail behind 46058 Bridle Ridge Crescent are shown.

By Marcus Gordon

Slope stabilization

Chilliwack City Council awards $1.7 million contract to stabilize slope behind Salmon Ridge Trail up on Promontory

Jul 21, 2022 | 7:10 AM

CHILLIWACK — The Salmon Ridge Trail previously functioned as a popular hiking path in Chilliwack within the forested trail network connecting parts of Promontory with Chilliwack Lake Road.

At least it did until the atmospheric river event in November 2021 inflicted severe damage to its slope and eroded parts of the trail to the point that immobile fences were erected at various access points to protect hikers. Some sections of the undamaged trail have since become overgrown with vegetation.

To address the dangerous slope deficiencies, Chilliwack City Council voted Tuesday (Jul. 19) to accept a $1.7 million bid from GDM Greystone Design Management Construction to stabilize the slope, but stopped short of rehabilitating the entire trail.
The city could receive some form of reimbursement from the provincial or federal government to repair parts of the trail, but it is unknown at this time exactly how much.

Frank Van Nynatten, assistant manager of environmental services for the City of Chilliwack, prepared a staff report that contained recommendations from a geotechnical firm. Geowest provided a review of the hillside, an assessment of the slope stability, and a recommendation to rehabilitate the unstable areas along the trail.

Geowest strongly urged the city to repair the affected slope as quickly as possible to prevent further deterioration of the slope behind homes located at 46058 Bridle Ridge Crescent, an 18-unit subdivision in Promontory. Failure to act quickly could result in increased risk to properties adjacent to the trail.

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As noted by Van Nynatten, the Bridle Ridge hillside and pedestrian trail have experienced repeated slope instabilities during and since its construction, including 2010-11, 2020, and 2021.

Geowest also recommended that due to the challenging topography, abandoning the Salmon Ridge Trail in the affected area should be considered by council.

That recommendation prompted Councillor Harv Westeringh to ask if the city would abandon the trail due to perpetual slope failures that kept costing the city each time.

“At this point in time, we’re not abandoning it,” said Chris Crosman, chief administrative officer for the City of Chilliwack. “It’s just something we’ll have to keep thinking about and talking about. It’s a big bill. We’ll have to look at it in the context of the bigger budget implications and determine if this is the best place to allocate funds for the benefits you get.”

Councillor Jason Lum reaffirmed the value of the trail by saying the public relies on it and taxpayers have funded it.

While three companies attended a mandatory site meeting early on in the tender process, only one company wound up submitting a bid because, as city staff learned, the other two companies were already busy with restoration projects in the region.

Westeringh asked Van Nynatten if the city was getting good value from the $1.7 million bid. Van Nynatten indicated Geowest had estimated the slope stabilization could run in the $2 million range.

“We did have a mandatory site meeting,” Van Nynatten told Westeringh. “We did have three contractors that attended the meeting. They were certainly aware of what the scope of the work was. The pre-tender estimate was $2 million. It did come in under budget. I believe we are getting value for money.”

Restoring the entire trail to its former state would cost an additional $750,000 on top of the $1.7 million contract council awarded.

GDM Greystone will be responsible for all labour, materials and equipment including stripping, excavation, grade beam, rockfill, gabion baskets, fill material, tecco mesh with turf reinforcement and related construction activities per the tender document.

The project area encompasses a portion of the trail located just south and east of 46058 Bridle Ridge Crescent. Salmon Ridge Trail also links up to Cecil Ridge Place and Tournier Place cul de sacs. However, this section of the trail is still closed.

According to the tender documents, substantial completion must occur by October 15 or the contractor faces proposed penalties from the City of Chilliwack of $1,000 per day until substantial performance is achieved.