The long-awaited reopening of Pebbles Beach will need to wait a little longer.
While work to stabilize the slope and rebuild the staircase down to the Gibsons amenity started in May (for a June reopening), contractors soon discovered that “subsurface conditions were softer than anticipated,” said a staff report.
The beach staircase off of Franklin Road in Lower Gibsons has technically been closed since February 2020 because of slope instability concerns.
Project coordinator Ryan Desrochers noted at a Gibsons' council meeting July 23, that the geotechnical site investigation a few years ago involved “hand probing and shallow digging,” but no bore holes. A section of exposed slope nearby showed hard till material just below the surface. “This led the engineers to believe that the project area would be similar.”
But, when site excavation started, the “subsurface was composed of fills and mostly loose clays” and hard till material was deeper than expected, said Desrochers.
Now, the plan is to move the staircase four metres to the west to a “more shallow and stable slope” for an additional $110,000, bringing the project cost to $337,000. The extra funds would cover engineering fees, site visits, increase in project and landscape area, the contractor’s additional civil and structural work and contingencies. The entire slope is to get upgraded and re-landscaped.
The alternative would be to abandon the stairs, staff told council.
“I know this has been a really challenging project for our staff over the years and our community because people really value this beach access,” said White. “It’s very high cost but it really hits home how complicated this piece of property is geotechnically.” He added, he’d heard from a neighbour concerned about the erosion getting close to their property line.
“For the value that the public gets out of this beach access, it’s really worth it," said White.
Council supported the budget increase. The staff report suggests the project will be complete by Aug. 30.
