B.C. Highway Flood Recovery Projects - Canal Road Dip Slide - Pender Island

Last updated on December 17, 2024

Canal Road Dip Slip

The project will make permanent repairs to a section of Canal Road damaged during heavy rain and flooding in November 2021. It is located approximately 2.5 km east of the Pender Canal Bridge, which links North Pender Island and South Pender Island.

Road conditions 

Drivers are reminded to drive for the conditions, observe construction-zone speed limits and follow the direction of traffic-control signs and personnel. Plan for delays along this route throughout the project:

  • Road closures are in effect daily and may last as long as four hours between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm
  • Night works in place – Expect low impact construction noise during night shifts
  • Winter shutdown for construction activities is to begin as early as December 20, 2024. During winter shutdown, traffic will remain in single-lane-alternating traffic and no road closures are anticipated. Construction works are anticipated to restart in March 2025
  • All efforts will be made to minimize traffic disruptions, Emergency Services and other important deliveries will be accommodated through the closure as required
  • The road is currently under single-lane-alternating traffic (SLAT) configuration with timed signals at each end of site
  • Load restrictions may be in place, depending on recent rainfall events
  • Check Drive BC for current conditions and events

The work will increase the road's resiliency during future extreme rainfalls, helping to keep Pender Island residents safe and connected. The work will include:

  • Clearing, rock blasting and offloading the existing slide and roadway
  • Realigning the road onto solid bedrock foundation
  • Addressing drainage capacity and stabilizing the slope to protect against extreme weather events
  • Installing a reinforced retaining wall at the eastern end of the project
  • Building a temporary barge-landing facility at Boundary Passage Drive to transport equipment and materials
  • Upgrading culverts and drainage ditches

Status

The project is currently in construction and moving ahead with the plans in place.​

Permanent repairs

  • Contract awarded to Dynamite Construction
  • Barge landing facility works are completed
  • Clearing works completed at Canal Road Site
  • Rock blasting to be completed December 2024
  • Retaining wall construction (shotcrete wall) began in November 2024
  • Traffic shift to new road alignment - Spring 2025
  • The permanent repair phase of the project is expected to be complete by Spring 2025

Environmental restoration

An extensive revegetation and restoration plan has been developed for the project, including:

  • Replanting trees/shrubs in the disturbed areas, where applicable. This area includes the existing roadway that will be offloaded once the new road alignment is completed as well as the disturbed area behind the rock face and proposed retaining wall.
  • Reseeding grass ditches and other areas where planting of trees/shrubs is inhibited
  • Planting trees/shrubs and grass at the Barge Landing site once the established access road is in place

The restoration plan is to be reviewed and accepted by Parks Canada prior to proceeding

  • Recommended species of trees and shrubs were  approved from Parks Canada during the design phase and are native to the area
  • A five (5) year post-construction environmental monitoring and warranty period is in place to ensure that the newly planted trees/shrubs and plants prosper

Emergency response preliminary construction (Completed November 2021)

  • Site investigations and assessments completed
  • Final project design completed
  • Site conditions monitored daily with maintenance as required
  • Temporary asphalt road repairs were completed on July 27, 2023

Consultation

Consultation with First Nations and Parks Canada is ongoing throughout construction and approvals have been given to proceed.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

 

Why is this work happening? What are the details of this project?

  1. After the November 2021 atmospheric river event, abnormal road deformation occurred at the Canal Rd Dip Slide. The slide was investigated in early 2018, but this event triggered road deformation enough to enact an emergency response/recovery disaster project. This included transitioning to single lane alternating traffic and closing off the outside lane. Geotechnical monitoring devices were installed and showed that heavy rainfall events add additional movement within the active landslide, in which, during these times, load restrictions were enacted. The proposed project is designed to a climate resiliency standard that will provide a long-term safe solution for this only connecting route between North and South Pender Island.
  2. The project consists of realigning the existing roadway onto a solid bedrock foundation. This includes excavation and blasting rock to carve the new alignment. A retaining wall is required at the eastern end of the project to retain the soils and earth above the rock of that specified section. Additionally, upgraded culverts and drainage ditches are to be constructed. The existing roadway will be offloaded and revegetated with grass, trees and shrubs, as well as the remaining disturbed areas where applicable.
 

How was the "Preserve and Protect" Gulf Islands mandate taken into account when designing this solution?

  1. The Ministry of Transportation and Transit's (MOTT)’s number one priority is safety of the public. Being the only route that connects North and South Pender, it is crucial to use an option that solves the on-going active landslide issue at the Canal Rd Dip. The design parameters for the solution are standard across the province in order to ensure a safe, long-term solution. Another important priority was to preserve the natural environment as much as possible. The team worked extensively with Parks Canada and designed a project to minimize impacts to Parks Canada as much as possible and preserve the Park.
 

Why is the rail required on the wall? If the wall or railing get’s graffitied, who is responsible for removing it?

  1. The railing is a requirement for safety of Ministry Maintenance staff and to protect public/animals away from the wall edge. The railing itself is only 1m high and will be surrounded by revegetation rather quickly once the project is completed.
  2. MOTT is responsible for the wall’s maintenance, which would be carried out  by the maintenance contractor.
 

Have any other alternatives been considered instead of using concrete for the retaining wall?

No other approved alternatives have been considered. The vegetation surrounding the wall will help reduce potential noise and the imbedded bedrock will encompass approximately 60% of the wall area.

 

Are there any other islands that has had this level of cautionary road repairs? If not, is there a greener solution that could be used.

  1. As the roadway is on an active landslide, in order to maintain this active route between North and South Pender island, these additional measures were required from a safety standpoint so that this wasn’t just a band-aid repair that could cause future catastrophic failures, losing all connection for businesses and residents. The alignment was built to the Ministry standard that is compliant with all Ministry roads and highways. Other options considered were along the existing alignment, which included a bridge option over the active landslide, or soil anchors and retaining wall downslope. Both of these options were considerably expensive, and the road would’ve had to be shut down for an extensive period of time. Being the only route for public and emergency vehicles, this was deemed a top priority to leave the existing alignment in use.
 

When will there be a community information meeting about this project? When will the plans become public? What Consultation or outreach has taken place?

  1. This FAQ is designed to provide requested clarity and reach a wider audience.
  2. The project website has been available online since early 2022, an email account has been available to answer public concerns CanalRdDIP@gov.bc.ca, with signs posted at the site with this information.
  3. This is a disaster mitigation project and it was deemed to be in the best interest of the community to proceed with an option that could be constructed without disrupting the existing route.
 

What is the plan for replanting the trees after the road is finished? If it's not fully re-treed, then who will be responsible for removing the invasive species, such as broom and gorse?

An extensive revegetation plan is proposed, which includes replanting of trees, shrubs and seeding all necessary areas that were disturbed. This includes the area behind the proposed wall, and along the new road alignment.

The existing roadway will be offloaded and additional tree planting will be offset there as well.

There is a guarantee period for these species and they will be maintained for 5 years. This work will be managed by the maintenance contractor after the initial 1-year contract period.

 

Were the plans confirmed prior to going to tender and if not, why not?

  1. Consultations occurred with First Nations and approvals were received from MOTT and Parks Canada to proceed
 

Have local traffic conditions been considered (such as number of vehicles, weight of vehicles, speed), and if so, have they been incorporated into the plans?

  1. Yes, the existing road (ambient) conditions were used as a standard for the road width and requirements. The necessity of the wall was due to the upland slope with realignment of the roadway into solid bedrock. Geotechnical monitors were installed in the existing roadway and the slide movement has been monitored since the project began. Load restrictions have been implemented when rainfall events occur. Realigning the roadway into solid bedrock removes the weight restrictions.
 

Is the plan set in stone, or are options still under consideration?

  1. The ministry is moving ahead with these plans and construction is underway.
 

What is the scale of the retaining wall, and what will it look like once it’s complete?

  1. The highest point of the wall would be 10.5m from the roadway. Roughly 7m of that height will be bedrock itself. The wall is built top down from the existing ground, once the bedrock is encountered, the wall construction stops, and the bedrock is benched and cut down to the roadway ditch.
  2. The shotcrete retaining wall will have a natural rock finish and will blend in with the bedrock below

 

Photo gallery

Contact information

Friendly Url for this Page:
gov.bc.ca/canal-road-dip-slide

For more information contact:
Chad Bengert
Project Manager