The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has started dredging works in Burrard Inlet’s Second Narrows, beginning a project designed to improve shipping efficiency and allow cargo ships using the channel to load more fully. The project covers around 17,000 sq m along the northern and southern edges of the deep-sea navigation channel east of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and involves dredging approximately 25,000 cu m of material, with the channel to be deepened to a maximum of 13.5 metres below chart datum. Marine contractor Fraser River Pile and Dredge is executing the works, with completion expected by February 28, 2027.
The project is intended to let Aframax-class tankers calling at Trans Mountain’s Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby load closer to full capacity; such tankers can measure up to 250 metres long with a draft of up to 16 metres, but currently load to only about 80 percent of capacity to maintain safe keel clearance through the inlet. The works also include removing sections of decommissioned Metro Vancouver waterlines that overlap the dredging area and installing two new range lights west of the bridge to aid navigation. The navigation channel will remain open to commercial and recreational traffic throughout construction, though the Tsleil-Waututh Nation has objected to the approval process, raising concerns about the risks posed by more fully laden oil tankers transiting the inlet.
Source: Splash247 — https://splash247.com/vancouver-starts-second-narrows-dredging-to-boost-ship-loading/
Tags: Port of Vancouver, Trans Mountain, Dredging, Oil Tankers
