B&B Heavy Civil (Prime Contractor) Al Coton, Project Manager Scott Hill, Assistant Project Manager. SENWI (Pre-condition Surveys) Sean Wiens

Transcription

1 MEETING MINUTES PROJECT: Low Level Road Project Implementation MEETING: block 1 st Street Residents Re: Construction Update DATE: April 10, 2013 TIME: LOCATION: AGENDA: PARTICIPANTS: 6-8 p.m. Pinnacle at the Pier Hotel 1. Welcome and Introductions 2. Construction Sequencing and What to Expect 3. Schedule 4. Key Contacts 5. Pre-Condition Surveys 6. Closing Remarks PROJECT REPRESENTATIVES: Port Metro Vancouver Justin Pedley, Director Trade Areas Sarah McPherson, Manager Project Communications Ian Galsworthy, Manager Trade Areas Richard Lyell, Low Level Road Project Manager (MMM Group) Cozmin Radu, Low Level Road Project Designer (Stantec) B&B Heavy Civil (Prime Contractor) Al Coton, Project Manager Scott Hill, Assistant Project Manager SENWI (Pre-condition Surveys) Sean Wiens Facilitator Pam Ryan, Lucent Strategies Inc. COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES: Approximately 20 local residents of East 1 st Street. Low Level Road Project Implementation Community Meeting Page 1 of 9

2 1. Welcome The meeting commenced at 6:20 p.m. Pam Ryan, facilitator, welcomed the group. Richard Lyell reviewed the agenda. Note: The following abbreviations are used throughout this summary: Q/C=Question/Comment, PMV=Port Metro Vancouver Project Team Response, BB=B&B Heavy Civil Team Response, STN=Stantec, SWI=SENWI 2. Construction Sequencing and Schedule Richard Lyell presented the Construction Sequencing and Draft Project schedule. A copy of the presentation is available at PortTalk.ca. Following Mr. Lyell s presentation, the group engaged in a facilitated discussion. Questions and responses are provided below. Q: How far down will the area behind the block of East 1 st Street be excavated? How far will it drop off? PMV: The drop off will be approximately 5-8 metres in depth. The area will be fenced for safety. Q: Will Alder Street be used as a fill removal haul route? PMV: No. Trucks will use the portion of the Spirit Trail that has been closed off. Q: What is the approximate time frame for excavation and wall construction in this area? The maximum amount of time would be eight weeks, but we estimate it will take approximately six weeks. Excavation and wall construction will be done concurrently. Q: If it rains for a month, how will that disrupt construction? STN: Normal rainfall won t affect construction; some debris may wash away but the slope will remain because we will leave the tree roots in place. Construction crews will regularly survey and monitor the area throughout construction. During heavy rains, plastic sheeting can be placed over the slope to protect it. Q: Will excavation affect the sewer lines? Do they need to come out? The sewer lines are not part of the excavation area and will remain as is. Q: How tall will the wall behind properties be to prevent dust? PMV: The wall will remain the same height as it is today. Low Level Road Project Implementation Community Meeting Page 2 of 9

3 Q: What is length of time for vibration and compacting for the MSE walls? This part of the process won t start right away, but its duration will be approximately two months in total. The vibration/compaction work for each wall will be about three weeks. It s important to note that because it will take place over a large area, not everyone will experience the effects on every day of this period. NOTE: MSE walls are mechanically stabilized earth walls. For more information, please see the accompanying presentation. Q: What type of drainage will be on North side of road? We will install a new storm drain on the north side of the road to provide maximum drainage. Q: What hours will there be work? We will work within City of North Vancouver noise bylaws: Monday through Friday, 7am-5pm; Saturday (if needed) 9am-5pm. C: When you were cutting down trees, it was from 7am-7pm, so I question these proposed hours. PMV: There may be times when work outside of this window is required, and we will apply to the City for variance permits to do so. The overall goal is to minimize our duration in the lane and maintain our commitment of completing this portion of the project in two months. Q: We need the City and the Port to put something in place as a Communications Plan for times when they have applied to work outside of those hours. We need to know these changes right away. Is there a place on the CNV website that this could be posted in a regular, timely manner? PMV: Cindy McCarthy with Port Metro Vancouver will be the main point of contact for all concerns from the community. The project website PortTalk.ca will be updated regularly, including notice of any change in hours of work. The City s contact, formerly Tony Barber, is Monty Hurd. Q: Will trucks be allowed on 3 rd Street? PMV: The Low Level Road generally will remain open throughout construction, so trucks will continue to use it. There will be a number of weekends or evenings where Low Level Road will be temporarily closed and we continue to work with B&B and the City to determine appropriate detour routes for these times. East 3 rd Street is not a truck route so alternative routes will need to be identified. Low Level Road Project Implementation Community Meeting Page 3 of 9

4 Q: What is the approximate length of time for the vibrations associated with anchor installation for the shotcrete walls behind the lane? Approximately 16 weeks (see Slide 17). This will start after the four weeks of excavating; different crews will do different work, so concurrent work can take place to help minimize the total amount of time in the area. C: The slope shown on Slide 23 looks incorrect; it has a steeper vertical drop. PMV: There may be some inaccuracies due to areas we couldn t access because of heavy vegetation. We are confident that we have allowed for this and the design will work in this area. Q: Will there be any shotcrete walls at east end of the project? PMV: No. Q: What will happen at the ravine to the east of this area? PMV: A culvert will be created, then filled, and an embankment will be established to allow for construction of an MSE wall. Q/C: How do you calculate two months with no access to the lane? Based on the presentation, it looks more like 5-6 months. PMV: The full lane closure has a six-week duration. The scheduled start date is April 29, 2013 and it will be finished eight weeks from then. At that point local residents will have access to their garages again. Note: actual start date was late-may and scheduled reopening is end of July C: Experience suggests that contractors scheduled timelines typically double. How can you guarantee two months? PMV: We have already counted for this in the schedule, two months is the maximum timeline, and we have included a float in the schedule to accommodate contingency and weather. We will continue to communicate any changes in the schedule if there are any. Q: What s the plan for emergency vehicle access to our properties if needed? We are working with Emergency Responders to determine a plan. There is no other way to do this construction in the lane. We need to develop this plan in conjunction with Emergency Service agencies. This is typically done after construction staging plans are established, so that there is a firm basis for discussion. Once a plan has been established, we will communicate with residents the relevant details. Construction will not start until a plan is in place. Low Level Road Project Implementation Community Meeting Page 4 of 9

5 Q: Residents of the area would like to participate in this meeting. Q/C: We cannot commit on their behalf to have residents there. It is not typical that residents would be present. The meeting typically consists of detailed technical discussions based on site-specific information. We expect that the meeting will include onsite visits. We also expect that we will be in regular contact with them during construction and that we will open the construction area to emergency response vehicles if needed for responding to a call. Fire trucks will continue to use East 1 st Street so that they can connect to the fire hydrants at the front of houses. Fire trucks access from the back at our house, not the front. We are planning these meetings now. Emergency Responders are accustomed to short-term access changes and we are confident that we will collectively develop a workable plan that ensures your emergency response needs are addressed. We look forward to completing this in due course and commencing construction. C: Workers also need emergency access. PMV: Absolutely. Q/C: What liability insurance does B&B have? We have met the requirements of the contract. Q: Does it cover Errors & Omissions Insurance for each contractor? PMV: Appropriate Errors & Omissions insurance is in place. C: Residents are concerned about our lives and our property. What we are hearing is that there currently is no safety plan in place. Reassurances that there is appropriate insurance aren t enough. We want the details. PMV: For contractual reasons, we can t disclose the specifics this evening; however, the range is substantial; in the multi-millions. We will confirm what information can be publicly released. Q: What other projects has B&B completed? B&B: Recent local projects include: Highway 10 from Scott Road to Highway 15; Highway 1 at 202 Street, including several overpasses and 3-4 km of highway widening; Highway 7 through Silverdale; and, Highway 11 through Abbotsford. Low Level Road Project Implementation Community Meeting Page 5 of 9

6 Q: Of the projects mentioned, how many have slopes like the Low Level Road? BCH: None of the ones mentioned; however, we have worked with a different contractor on steep slopes, including along Barnett Highway, in Abbotsford, and in Nakusp. Our contract team was selected from a large group of proponents. As professional engineers, our priority is to keep public interests in mind. We selected the proposed approach based on public safety and environmental safety. These are serious rules that drive our profession. We have also selected the best sub-contractors for this job. All are prequalified based on experience with similar work. They have to demonstrate experience with similar projects; similar conditions, retaining walls, steep slopes, roadway/highway construction, MSE & shotcrete walls, key staff and resumes, etc. in order to be considered. Q: Do the soil anchors cross under private property lines? PMV: No. As part of our design to make sure that doesn t happen, we increased the number of anchors as an added safety measure. Q: Have you factored in the additional vibration of train shunting nearby? Have individual properties been investigated? STN: Yes. The effect of train shunting is minimal. During construction, a geotechnical engineer will be on site daily, monitoring slope/ground stability. We generally apply a one-to-one (45% angle) slope. We will also conduct pre-condition surveys on a property-by-property basis before construction begins, and develop additional plans as may be necessary. In some cases, we may have to expose the ground to fully understand what may be required. If monitoring identifies an area of concern, we will develop mitigation measures. This is very common practice for construction in conditions such as this. Q: Can you have continuous (24-hour) monitoring to help us feel more secure? PMV: We have committed to daily monitoring. There is no evidence to suggest that a night watch is necessary. Q: I have two trailers I store on back of properties. Will PMV provide a storage facility for them? C: I m in the same boat; I use Alder Street for two construction trailers. With the road being cut off I can t back my trailers out the lane so I need temporary storage or access. PMV: We will follow up with both residents at the end of tonight s meeting. Low Level Road Project Implementation Community Meeting Page 6 of 9

7 Q: Will the north/south lane between East 1 st Street and Alder Street just east of St. Davids stay open? Yes. Q: How will our yards be protected from the excavation area during construction? We will install a chainlink fence with secure posts along the property line. The purpose of the fence is to prevent access to the construction site. If anyone has concerns, we can address that as part of the pre-condition surveys. Q: In the event of an emergency, how will emergency responders get through the fence to access workers if they are injured? The construction site will always have truck access (therefore emergency response access). We will coordinate with emergency responders if required. 3. Key Contacts Cindy McCarthy cindy.mccarthy@portmetrovancouver.com Direct Line: Porttalk.ca Public_affairs@portmetrovancouver.com General Line: Pre-Condition Surveys Sean Wiens from SENWI provided an overview of the pre-condition survey process. Following Mr. Wiens presentation, the group engaged in a facilitated discussion. Questions and responses are provided below. C: Is this for PMV s protection or ours? It s both. In my experience, if you have existing damage you want to pass off, and if pre-condition survey hasn t taken place, the process drags on for months and it s easy for engineers to say that could have been there before. It is for everyone s protection. Low Level Road Project Implementation Community Meeting Page 7 of 9

8 Q: Can we get a copy of images as part of report? In the report itself, there will be photos of important defects. It s a written narrative report with annotated photos. I m talking high resolution photos per property so it would be several DVD s. I can do that by request but not automatically. I keep the images on my server, backed up, and would make a copy for B&B. C: I live on the north side and I d like to be protected to. If people on south side are getting property analysis, I m only across the street. We can look at that. The selection of residences was done by way of distance from construction and anticipating what impact could be. It s standard practice, based on expected conditions. Q: Are the four homes on St. Davids Avenue between East 1 st Street and Alder Street included? The proposed survey area is from the edge of the commercial section of St. Patricks through to the end of the lane, including the three houses on the other side of the ravine. It includes the west end of the Spirit Trail, and onto Alder Street. The lowest property on St. Davids is included. Q: If other people request surveys can PMV entertain this? PMV: Within reason, yes. However, it is based on availability, with a focus to complete surveys of properties in the immediate area first. Q: How will people be informed of this option? I was not invited to tonight s meeting but I would like a pre-condition survey. PMV: B&B is required to contact people for whom there is a reasonable potential risk. If people outside of this area ask for a survey, we will consider it on a case-by-case basis. We do not plan to notify anyone whom we do not perceive to be a reasonable risk; however, we are committed to following up with anyone who contacts us. C: How do we deal with dogs in our yards? Do we need to be there when you do your work? If it s not a friendly dog, we will need to come up with an arrangement. I make sure gates are closed; I do this for a living and 40% of the time I encounter animals. If you have concerns, I ll work with you directly. Low Level Road Project Implementation Community Meeting Page 8 of 9

9 Q: Why are you including 3 houses on the other side of the ravine even though there s no construction there? These are being done based on information from the City. We aren t doing them right away; it s for after we have finished lane residences. My hope is to do the exterior assessments for the 400 and 500 blocks next week and the interior of houses the following week, and then moving on to other properties the third week. Q: Will you be going to the very end of the lane? Yes. To the very end. C: We recommend you follow up with the City regarding properties of concern in the area with known stability issues. Q: When will construction on the rest of Spirit Trail (east of lane) take place? PMV: Dates have not been finalized. For now, we are focusing on areas of construction with longest duration. We will post the construction schedule when it is available. Q: Does the survey consider water lines and sewer lines? The inspection does not include sub-grade levels. 6. Closing Remarks/Next Steps The facilitator reviewed items for follow up as noted below and the meeting ended at 8:12 p.m. Who/ # ACTION Status 1 Post meeting notes and PowerPoint presentation to PortTalk and issue advisory blast. PMV Complete. Posted to PortTalk. 2 Ensure B&B's Communications Plan includes notifying residents in advance if they have applied for an hours of work variance and if/when the City approves it. PMV/BB Ongoing. Posted to PortTalk as necessary. 3 Develop an emergency access plan and communicate it to residents before construction starts. PMV Complete. 4 Confirm what insurance information can be released. PMV Complete. 5 Follow up with specific residents re: trailer access/storage during construction. PMV/BB Complete. 6 Follow up with affected residents re: height of chain link construction fencing along the lane. BB Part of pre-condition surveys. 7 Receive and respond to requests from residents outside of the proposed pre-condition survey areas. PMV Complete. Low Level Road Project Implementation Community Meeting Page 9 of 9