A log retaining wall between the Ladysmith Community Marina access road and the parking area is failing and needs to be replaced.
Ladysmith’s Town Council is mulling their options to fix the retaining wall — none of which are cheap.
Director of Development Services Geoff Goodall said that $100,000 has been budgeted for the project, but work is expected to exceed that amount. $25,000 has already been spent for a geotechnical assessment conducted by Tetra Tech.
“We’re on the hook for everything involved in this repair,” Goodall said. “At the present time, we haven’t determined where the money would come from… As soon as we have a better understanding of the costs we will bring it back to council with those options.”
Circa August 2020, staff were made aware of the failing condition of the log retaining wall at the toe of a slope in the Ladysmith Community Marina parking lot. It was observed that the logs were leaning towards the existing utility building approximately 50mm from the gutter. The logs are now touching the gutter.
The retaining wall is now contacting the gutters of the utility building, having moved significantly in the past few months. (Cole Schisler photo)
The utility building houses electrical utilities, the water main for the community marina as well as the water meter and backflow preventer. There is also space where LMS parks a golf cart and other equipment.
Tetra Tech’s assessment presented several remediation options to repair the wall, including reshaping the slope with various grades, a mechanically stabilized earth wall, and a soldier pile wall. Town staff determined that the lowest cost option is to reshape the slope at a ratio of 1.5 horizontal distance to 1 vertical distance.
Project costs are not yet known. However, the bulk of the costs are expected to be a result of relocating the utility building, water main, and power pole. Regardless of the remediation option selected, the utility building and power pole would need to be reconstructed, although some options would allow them to be replaced in their existing locations.
Due to the costs associated with the project, it may be necessary for the Town to postpone one or more capital projects to fund the retaining wall project.
Council directed staff to investigate costing on remediation options to be brought back to council for approval. However, work cannot be delayed as the slope of the access road continues to change over time. The more the slope deteriorates, the more expensive the remediation work will become.
