Assuming the Trans Mountain expansion project gets underway as scheduled, it will present major challenges and opportunities for North Thompson businesses, according to Leslie Groulx.
“We need to work with business to get ready,” District of Clearwater’s chief administrative officer said during Clearwater and District’s annual general meeting on Thursday evening.
According to information provided by Groulx, construction is scheduled to start this fall with land clearing and construction of temporary sites.
Camp construction will take place during the first three months of 2018.
Actual construction of the new second pipeline will move in a generally north to south direction in the North Thompson Valley. It will begin in January, 2018 and continue until June, 2019.
The workforce is expected to peak with 700 workers in the Blue River area in the summer of 2018, with the peak of 700 moving to Clearwater that fall.
There will be a full service construction camp in Blue River with capacity for 550 people.
In Clearwater, there will be a sleeper-only camp with capacity for 350 people. A sleeper-only camp means the workers staying there will need to provide their own meals, etc.
Hotels, motels, RV parks and rentals will be used to accommodate to those who don’t have room in the camps.
Further south in the valley, reactivation of the existing second pipe from Darfield to Black Pines (just north of Kamloops) will take place from May, 2017 to January, 2019.
Restoration and post-construction monitoring along the route will start in 2019 and continue past 2020.
Trans Mountain anticipates spending $4.5 billion for goods and services on the project.
The company is committed to providing opportunities for Aboriginal, local and regional residents.
