The city has a rich agricultural history, being one of the first areas in British Columbia to be farmed by Europeans in the 19th century. However, its location - being at the mouth of the Fraser River - plays victim to the risk of rising sea levels. Presently, the city sits just 1 metre above sea-level.
As a risk management process, the city provides drainage and flood protection to protect its businesses, agriculture and over 200,000 residents from river and ocean flooding through the management of 49 km of dikes; 39 drainage pump stations and over 800 km of ditches and storm sewers.
As part of the City's broader capital programme, drainage pump station and dike upgrades are defined through rigorous technical analysis and planning and form part of the City's long-term flood protection strategy. These upgrades are built to design standards that address projected climate change and sea-level rise over the next 100 years.
WSP was assigned as prime consultants for civil, mechanical and electrical work for the city's flood-management upgrades.
The upgrades to the pump-station can handle 2.3 times the rainfall intensity/duration of the old station, providing adaptation to increased rainfall intensities anticipated as a result of climate change.
