B.C. Ferries has issued a request for proposals to upgrade Berth Five at its Swartz Bay Terminal to provide room for its mid-sized Salish-class vessels.
Berth Five does not have enough clearance for a Salish-class ferry at low tides. The Salish ferries are larger and heavier than other ferries using Berth Five.
Salish-class ferries have a maximum draft of 4.65 metres, Draft is the distance between the waterline on a vessel and the deepest part of a vessel.
The Salish ferries are 107 metres long and have capacity to carry 600 passengers and crew and 138 cars. The request for proposals closes Sept. 8.
Plans call for at least one metre clearance for a Salish ferry during extreme low water levels, a consultants report said.
The depth of Berth Four and Berth Five will be increased likely through blasting and dredging. Four parallel-motion fender dolphins will be installed, along with tie-up infrastructure.
A marker pile will be installed as a navigational aid at the entrance to the berth.
Habitat compensation will be installed in Long Harbour, at Salt Spring Island, to offset the environment impact from the project. At Long Harbour a cobble blanket will be placed on the seabed with rows of rock reefs. Some of the rock blasted out of Swartz Bay may be taken over to Long Harbour for the remediation project.
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