The gravel conveyor at Lehigh Materials' shiploading facility on Sechelt’s Trail Bay crashed onto the deck of a barge slated to be loaded on Jan. 8.
“Around seven o’clock in the morning there was a tremendous bang. I was already awake but I image anyone living on the waterfront who was asleep would have been awakened by it”, Brian Hulme a resident of the nearby Watermark condominiums told Coast Reporter.
Hulme said that he had watched the lights of a ship and the barge from his home as they approached and tied up at the site. About an hour after he heard the crash, daylight broke and he could see that the gravel conveyor had collapsed from its supports and onto the barge’s deck. His assessment was that “something let go” when the loadout arm was extended.
Two cranes were brought to the site by barge on Jan. 9 to lift the conveyor Hulme said. That equipment remained on site as of noon, Jan. 11 and crews appeared to be continuing to work on repairs.
Lehigh’s Sechelt mine manager did not respond to Coast Reporter’s call for comments on the incident.
Hulme, who has lived on the Trail Bay waterfront for eight years, reported that a similar conveyor collapse at the facility occurred several years ago.
