High water levels have bogged down some construction at the anticipated Vancouver waterfront development and could eventually cause some delays, contractors said Thursday.
Tapani Inc., the Battle Ground company building the 7.3-acre waterfront park, said work on important retaining walls and erosion protections have been on hiatus for the last three weeks. Josh Brock, project manager, said those jobs won’t start until the water levels recede.
“Hypothetically, the only way you could begin to do (the work) is if you had a scuba diver down there,” Brock said, adding that crews have shifted to installing sewer lines, storm drains and other utilities in the meantime. “This is such a high-profile job, we’re just making sure everything’s perfect on it,” he said.
Park construction started in February and is slated to wrap up in the summer of 2018. Designs show it flanking Grant Street Pier, the cable-stayed pier over the Columbia River, and designed with play areas, a beach, overlooks, and a connection to the Waterfront Renaissance Trail.
Brock said delays will likely set them back.
“We’re on a tight schedule to start,” he said. “The pressure is really going to be put on, because we’re going to want to get this all done by July next year, and it’s definitely going to create challenges for that to happen. Tapani is going to do everything in its power to make sure we can get everything done as quickly as we can.”
The Columbia River rose more than usual this year, largely thanks to excessive rain and early snowmelt in high elevations of the Columbia River Basin. The river crested at 17.6 feet on March 30, the highest level since 1997, according to the National Weather Service.
Brock wasn’t sure when the water levels would return to normal, but he expected to be back building the retaining walls fairly soon.
“It looks like in a couple of weeks (experts are) projecting the water level is going to drop and hopefully give us a few weeks of low water before the major snowmelts start,” he said.
Representatives from Gramor Construction, the Tualatin, Ore., developer leading the $1.5 billion makeover of the waterfront properties, could not be reached for additional comment.
The city of Vancouver in January awarded Tapani the $9.9 million contract to build the park.
