Special Diking System Gets Credit for Holding Back Nechako

Sunday, August 12, 2007 04:01 AM

Gabion Dike set up along the bank of the Nechako river in Vanderhoof (Photo Opinion250 archive)

Heading into the spring freshet of 2007, the Province made one purchase, which seems to have paid off big time.

Gabion Dikes.

It was the first year that technology was used in the province. “If you need it in a hurry, you can put it up in a hurry” says the Minister for Public Safety and Solicitor General John Les.

He says when he first heard of the product he thought it would be a good idea for B.C. “So we bought 10 kilometres of it this year, it is supposed to be reusable so we will learn from it this year if it is, and to what extent it is, but if its not, I think that for the price, the 10 kilometres cost us about $1.5 million dollars, we saved ourselves way in excess of that in damage claims alone.”

Although a stretch of gabion dike was set up on River Road in Prince George during the flood crisis in June, the dike didn't face the kind of test it would undergo in the community of Vanderhoof. ( at right dikes being set up along River Road in Prince George photo Opinion250 archive)

In Vanderhoof, the Gabion Dikes, fortified with sandbags, held back the Nechako River for nearly two months.

Provincial Emergency Program Direct or of Operations, Jim Whyte says the Gabion Dikes wasn’t designed for flood situations at all “Originally, the system was developed for use by the military. You could set them up around your encampment, fill them full of rocks and no one could shoot through them.” Whyte says when lined with a special fabric and filled with sand, the gabion dike becomes an effective line of protection from flood waters.

Whyte says once the Nechako River has receded to normal levels, the dikes will be emptied, washed, dried out and stored for the next emergency.

The Minister for Public Safety / Solicitor General John Les says the dikes were a huge success “It was a great investment I certainly will not hesitate to acquire more of it and make sure it is deployed around the province so it is ready when needed.”

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Posted on Sunday, August 12, 2007 04:01 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Chadermando on August 12 2007 5:04 AM

I could build you a really nice custom railing for $15 dollars a linear foot. I think that is way too much for such a simple product like this. Maybe they should see if they can get local bids next time for a product that any number of companies could build. I agree its a good product, but can't belive it costs that much....

Posted by: lunarguy on August 12 2007 6:32 AM

What I want to see is how easy is it to remove it ? How do you get all that dirt back out of it, even a skilled backhoe operator would have difficulties with this. Does the one side panel just come off and the sand is dropped on the ground and then do you scoop it up ?

Posted by: Chester on August 12 2007 9:41 AM

Why would you want to move them? Same thing could happen again next year. Chester

Posted by: lunarguy on August 12 2007 2:01 PM

Cause I thought the purpose of this special diking system was that it was portable to be used where urgently needed versus where the planners should have done things right the first time.

Posted by: Palopu on August 12 2007 6:59 PM

I agree with lunarguy. I was looking at these on River Road and wondered how they will get the dirt out of them. It appears that they would have to be pushed over and dumped. Could be some manual labour involved. In any event I guess we will find out.

PS: This is not a negative, or pessimist post. Tks.

Posted by: owl on August 12 2007 8:57 PM

"Why would you want to move them? Same thing could happen again next year. Chester"

EXACTLY!!!! they are still up on river road. I think they should stay up for at least 3 more years. Makes River Rd. look just wonderful for our city visitors.

;-(

Posted by: owl on August 12 2007 8:57 PM

Bang on with the assessments of this system which is one step beyond sandbags.

There are other systems which are much further advanced based on the principle of triangulated sloped walls covered with thick polysheets once in place

There is a comparison of one such system which takes 3 people one hour to erect 100 metres of a 1.4 metre high wall while it takes about 480 people to erect that size of sandbagged protection.

In the dismantling, all products are reusable, although the storage space takes up more than for the meshed system.

I would love to watch the cleanup operation of one versus the other.

The ultimate take down wall system puts permanent continuous concrete footings in place with a locking mechanism ever few metres which supports a post which, in turn, are used to slide in horizontal hollow aluminum beams. Such wall can be built to a height of about 4 metres.

http://www.noah-systems.de/en/prods_hochshutz.htm

http://www.aquafence.com/index.asp

http://www.rs-stepanek.de/home/de

click on the right button to view the slideshow. They even use wooden palettes for one version of this.
http://www.rs-stepanek.de/home/de/starseite/fotoarchiv/fotos_aquabarrier.htm

Posted by: owl on August 12 2007 9:03 PM

Lunarguy is right on. Do it right in the first place. They dikes should be right at the edge of the river as they are in virtually everyplace I have ever been. Why rebuild and/or clean up the water side of the dike everytime there is a flood? Our heritage trail is a mess. It is no longer connected at the river, lookouts are in the river. Why all this waseted time when we cannot use the trail each year and the clean up and rebuild? Do it right in the first place. What is so hard to understand about that simple concept? It is wrong-headed thinking of building and planning to a completely unacceptable standard.

Posted by: owl on August 12 2007 9:14 PM

"The Minister for Public Safety / Solicitor General John Les says the dikes were a huge success �It was a great investment I certainly will not hesitate to acquire more of it and make sure it is deployed around the province so it is ready when needed.�

Take a trip and see how it is done properly. This sytem is a poor investment. As if we are living in the dark ages.

BTW, has anyone seen the bridge project in Ottawa where they replaces a 6 or 8 lane overpass in a 24 hour period overnight this past Satruday night. No diverting of traffic for a year or two. One has to realize we are in the 21st century and technology is changing and can save many dollars and much frustration when properly applied.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/flash/bridge/bridge.html

http://flickr.com/photos/pcellis/sets/72157601318683029