2009

November

Ambleside Boat Ramp and Pier, 14th Street

Work included: restoring functionality to the boat ramp by excavating sand and cobble infill. This beach cobble was utilized to feed updrift beaches and accelerate erosion restoration and foreshore enhancement at Lawson Park , 15th St. Park and at Evergreen Place .One outcome of this work is that the small moorage float at the 14th St. Pier now has more water depth at all tides.

The rock armor and rip-rap at 14th street was re-worked to provide increased intertidal benches that will now develop plant growth. This will enhance habitat values and improve the visual appearance by stepping and “greening” the blasted rock.

Some surplus armor rock was removed and placed into a sub-tidal reef alongside the pier which has already developed a significant colonization of mussels and kelp. This reef area is also stabilizing a flatter beach profile west of the pier that is more resistant to storm wave erosion and contains a higher percentage of sand content in the upper reaches that is suitable for both smelt spawning and human beach “habitat” in summer.

In one area the removal of excess armour rock has restored the original aesthetic intent of the water fountain pools at the pier by providing an “infinite – edge” appearance to the reflecting pool as originally intended.

15th Street

The broken concrete culvert pipes at 15th street were removed and small boulders placed to create a more natural appearing foreshore with a fresh water flow regime that is expected to foster continued mussel colonies. The rocks were placed in such a way as to trip breaking waves thus enhancing the width and stability of the upper foreshore fronting the park. Over time it may indeed be possible to remove the existing concrete seawalls as protection will be provided by a natural wider foreshore zone.

17th Street at Lawson Park

At Lawson Park the two intertidal reefs placed last year were ‘tuned’ to improve the resulting wave refraction and breaking patterns that are fostering development of a curved crenellate shape to the beach east of the pier with increased habitat diversity as well as a wider upper foreshore zone fronting Lawson Park.

The gap through the Lawson pier now feeds sediment to this downstream shoreline. The opening was improved to allow for storm passage of sediments rather than erosion and loss of materials to deep water at the pier tip. A few boulders were also placed in the existing boulder garden at the pier tip to ensure this upper beach sediment pathway is dominant and that the beach has a flatter, more storm erosion-resistant profile.

The eroded beach east of Lawson pier was “perched” with the placement of an intertidal rock shelf that is presently filling in naturally with the sand and cobbles passed through the pier. The result will be a much improved beach for Lawson Park on both sides of the pier and permanent resistance to historic down-drift erosion east of the pier.

The boulders and reefs at the mouth of Lawson Creek were ‘tuned’. In addition the gravel shore walk was shifted 30 ft landward of the foreshore and the riparian zone planted and protected with placed logs and boulders.

Other locations

Related shoreline enhancement works were conducted using the principles learned from these pilot sites at several private and public locations along the waterfront west of 25th street . Remediation work at Horseshoe Bay funded primarily by B.C. Ferries has significantly improved foreshore habitat in the Bay.