Rehab or Rebuild Cost Estimates

 Colliery Dams Options To Be Studied

Following Council’s direction to staff at the December 17th regular Council meeting to engage professional engineers to undertake conceptual level cost estimates for rehabilitating or rebuilding Colliery Dams while preparatory engineering and environmental study work to remove the dams and re-naturalize the Chase River is carried out concurrently, a two-stage action plan has been developed, the City of Nanaimo announced today.

“The desire to see cost estimates for the rehabilitation or rebuilding of the Colliery Dams from those members of the community who are interested in saving these structures has been heard clearly by Council”, said Nanaimo City Mayor, John Ruttan. “I am confident the two-stage plan staff has outlined will effectively address questions around rehabilitation or replacement costs and what these costs will equate to in terms of meeting public life safety objectives, as well as to municipal borrowing and public tax expenses.”

The two-stage action plan is broken down as follows:

1. Klohn Crippen Berger (KCB) will be retained to do the conceptual level cost estimates. KCB has extensive experience with the assessment, design and construction of dams, are familiar with the recent studies and assessments of the Colliery Dams, and have excellent knowledge of British Columbia’s dam safety regulations and standards. KCB has also been retained to carry out the design work necessary to fulfill the proposal to remove the Colliery Dams.

2. The City will issue a Request for Proposal in early January for an engineering consultant to do a peer review of KCB’s work. The peer review will first involve an assessment of the concepts being considered for rehabilitation and rebuilding. Based on that initial assessment, KCB will then develop the conceptual level cost estimates. Those cost estimates will also be subject to the peer review process.

“We believe our action plan will return excellent professional advice, advice that is supported by qualified peer reviews, resulting in Council feeling confident in the thoroughness of the information they have received”, said General Manager of Community Services, Tom Hickey. “But the work will need to take place quickly – these engineering consultants will have to observe a two to three month timeline for developing the conceptual level cost estimates. This requirement is critical as the design for the removal of the dams is expected to be completed and ready to be tendered in April or May; consequently Council will need to consider the new information regarding the conceptual level cost estimates for rehabilitating or replacing the dams before then.”