An extra $208,620 will be added to ongoing dike upgrades at the Squamish River Dike by Upper Judd Slough in effort to make the structure stronger.
Chris Wyckham, the head of engineering at the District, said that the municipality unexpectedly saved money during the tendering process, so they want to use the leftover cash to make the dike upgrades stronger.
The District received $3.9 million in grant money from the federal government to fund the project.
However, the municipality awarded a $3.87-million contract Whistler Excavations Ltd. in October.
The extra money will add more riprap to the structure. This won’t make it higher, but it will make it more durable.
The project is being built to withstand a substantial flood or weather phenomenon — deemed a one-in-200-year
event.
The ideal identified by the District’s flood plan is a one-in-500-year standard, but at the moment, that’s too pricey to build, Wyckham said.
Further upgrades may happen in the future.
