By Carl BR Johnson
Dredge work on the Illecillewaet River draws nearer to a close as BC Hydro has sought to remove the threat of flooding that at-risk residences might experience along the river’s path.
"The initial work involved excavating a deep channel in the Illecillewaet River through the reach where flooding occurred," Hydro said in a statement.
BC Hydro has stated that primary work was to be on the mouth of the river to prevent ice damming by increasing the river’s capacity, thus preventing overflows over its banks.
The amount of material being displaced is substantial and they estimate that about 30,000 cubic metres have been removed from the riverbed to allow for greater throughput of water, and inevitably, spring-time ice.
Dredging at this particular location has been a regular occurrence since 1987 and has been a joint operation between the City of Revelstoke, the Ministry of Forests and Natural Resource Operations.
Work officially started on Mar. 11 and is scheduled to be completed on Mar. 23.