The new bulkheads are in place at the Prince George Aquatic Centre but their replacement, nearly a year after one of them snapped, has not gone without a hitch.
Ever since the new structures were installed in late March at a cost of $380,000, lane swimmers have complained about the abrasive non-slip surface that covers the top and sides of the fibreglass structures, which they say has caused minor skin damage.
"The kids are used to it now, but at the beginning they had open wounds," said Jerzy Partyka, the Prince George Barracudas Swim Club head coach.
"I hope when they shut down in September that can do something like sand it or something, because it's really harsh. I know the kids, every time when they touch the wall or stop on the wall, they have scratches."
Lana Keim, manager of the city's aquatic division, said representatives of Precision Fibre, the Vancouver manufacturer of the bulkheads, will be coming next week to address the issue.
"The surface is rougher than what we're normally used to, but the company will be back Monday night to work with us to resolve that," said Keim. "It's a non-slip product that has some real peaks on it. If you sat on the bulkhead and went in [to the pool] that way it might be hard on your bathing suit.
"People are walking over it a number of times and aren't noticing a problem with it at all. Most of our swimmers haven't noticed or commented. The Prince George Barracudas have noted that it's very rough and had a concern about that before it was actually delivered. It had come to their attention at other places where they've raced that had new bulkheads."
The new structures are driven by electric traction motors, replacing a winch-driven setup. That allows pool staff to adjust the length of the main pool to suit either 25-metre or 50m swimming events. The bulkhead also provides a barrier that separates length swimmers from other Aquatic Centre activities such as aqua fitness classes. For the first two years after the Aquatic Centre opened in 1998, the bulkheads had no winches and had to be manually pulled.
"We move them a lot," said Keim. "We're glad to have them and they're moving very well. They're heavy, and it used to take a half-hour with the winch."
The main structure moves on nylon wheels on the sides of the pool deck. When the new bulkheads were first installed, the 2,700-kilogram weight of the bulkhead cracked the tiles of the deck, and the wheels had to be replaced a couple weeks ago with a type made from a softer compound.
"The wheels were changed, and we're not having any issues with cracking tiles anymore," said Keim. "It never created a problem before, because the other bulkheads didn't have wheels on the deck."
Greg Anderson, civic facilities manager, said at the time the wheels were replaced, some work was done to smooth out the top surface of the bulkhead.
"You want it to be grippy enough so that people walking on it don't slip, so it's kind of a fine balance what kind of surface you want on the bulkheads," said Anderson. "When you're doing kickturns, it may help if there's some ability to get grip, but that's all I can see as a benefit to having a bit of texture there."
When the old bulkhead broke, May 8, 2010, the structure was not covered under any warranty. The new bulkheads come with a one-year full warranty and a 25-year limited warranty of the structure itself.
One-third of the cost of the project was covered by the federal government's Recreational Infrastructure Canada program. Of the $1.343 million improvements made to the Aquatic Centre and Four Seasons Pool, $447,667 was covered by the federal grant.
