The engineering work that followed the Nechako ice jam has turned out to be an award winner.
Northwest Hydraulics Consultants Ltd. (NHC) has earned an award of excellence in the soft engineering category from the Consulting Engineers of British Columbia for leading a flood hazard and solutions study following the flood during the 2007-08 winter.
Considering the other entries in the category, winning the award came as a surprise to NHC principal Bruce Walsh, but he believes his firm's entry stood out because of its scope and the issues that were tackled.
"And the whole process we went through to get to the end of the study was something we've never done before," Walsh added. "It's the way things are happening now in terms of consultation with various groups and public presentations and that sort of thing."
The ice jam sparked a 64-day state of emergency and caused significant property damage along River Road and PG Pulp Mill Road when it forced the Nechako to breach its banks and pushed groundwater up to the surface.
A few months later, NHC was hired to carry out an extensive study and come up with recommendations to help mitigate the effects when a similar event occurs in the future.
Perhaps the biggest lesson learned from the study was that the jam was a one-in-90-year event and was preceded by a one-in-20-year spring freshet.
The study also found that past events like it occurred only when there is a flow of at least 200 cubic metres per second and a temperature of -5 C or colder for 20 days.
NHC also came up with a "suite of options" that culminated in a flood mitigation strategy listing 19 projects spread over six years and worth a total of $49.4 million and most contingent on funding from senior government.
Most prominent is work along River Road. The road itself has been raised to the 200-year floodplain level and a subdrain system was upgraded as part of a $7-million project completed in September.
City of Prince George chief engineer Dave Dyer said word will be known in April on whether federal and provincial government funding will be available for an offset dyke along 1.5 kilometres between River Road and the Nechako River at a cost of $9 million over two years.
A further $6.5 million for land acquisition along the length is also subject to senior government funding.
Other projects on the list include $8 million worth of flood protection work along PG Pulp Mill Road, $4.1 million, $2.9 million and $1.4 million worth of similar work in the Preston Road area, South Fort George and along Morning Place respectively.
Rehabilitation of Cottonwood Island Park was completed over the winter and floodplain mapping has been complete and a bylaw is being prepared for city council's review.
"It was one of the more comprehensive reports and studies," said Dyer, who stressed many were involved not only on the engineering side but in terms of communications and consultations with affected property owners and other residents.
