Port of Vancouver Discussion

[Pinion]

Philip Ave overpass almost complete, just about six months behind schedule

Philip Ave overpass, North Vancouver by chrisjohann, on Flickr

[Metro-One]

Thanks fo the pic, nice to see a new arch structure built (seeing how nearly all of our arch bridges will be gone soon).

[WarrenC12]

Where is this area on a map? What are we looking at that is so empty in the foreground?

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Where is this area on a map? What are we looking at that is so empty in the foreground?

Philip Ave, North Van. You can see Shangri La, Trump and the sulfur pile on the left.

It's industrial zoned port land with rail lines under the bridge. Wasn't so empty before construction, but still pretty empty.

[urbancanadian]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Where is this area on a map? What are we looking at that is so empty in the foreground?

The empty lot is the site of the soon-to-be-built Lions Gate Wastewater Treatment Plant.

[SOSS]

Is the old plant being decommissioned? If so, are plans afoot for future use? Could it possibly be used as a land swap with the first nations band to finally get West 1st Street? Lots of questions, I know.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by SOSS

Is the old plant being decommissioned? If so, are plans afoot for future use? Could it possibly be used as a land swap with the first nations band to finally get West 1st Street? Lots of questions, I know.

Yup.

The new Lions Gate Secondary Wastewater Treatment Plant will be built on a new Metro Vancouver-owned site in the District of North Vancouver, approximately 2 km east of the existing treatment plant. The existing plant will be decommissioned and the lands returned to Squamish Nation in accordance with a Provincial/Federal cut-off lands agreement.

http://www.metrovancouver.org/lionsgate

[Pinion]

G3 terminal at Lynnterm gets port approval

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has given conditional approval to G3’s application to build a massive grain terminal on the North Vancouver waterfront.

The port announced the approval on Friday morning along with 74 permit conditions G3 must abide by “to ensure the project does not result in significant adverse environmental effects, including impacts to the surrounding community, stakeholders and Aboriginal groups.”

Among those conditions, G3 must file plans related to lighting, fuel spill response, archeology, environmental management during construction, marine mammal monitoring, and construction traffic management. Construction will be limited from Monday to Friday, 7 a.m.-8 p.m.

Should the project go ahead, it will consist of 48 14-storey grain silos, a 264-foot tall work building, and a rail loop capable of holding three trains of up to 150 cars each, at the foot of Brooksbank Avenue.

Brett Malkoske, vice-president of business development for G3, said he is confident his company can meet the port’s conditions.

“We are really happy with this major milestone in the process,” he said. “We do hope to make a final investment decision shortly.”

The exact cost of the new facility hasn’t been finalized but Malkoske said it is “north of $500 million” and the company expects to employ 50 workers upon completion.

A citizens’ group had collected more than 700 signatures for a petition raising concerns about the project’s grain dust and noise, as well as rail and shipping traffic. Those concerns should be addressed though the port’s permitting process, Malkoske said.

“The port is a very professional outfit. We have the utmost respect for the technical folks on their staff. We’ve spent a lot of time, a lot of energy, a lot of money making sure that ... impact on the community is minimized. We want to be a good neighbour,” he said.

Peter Xotta, vice-president of planning and operations for the port, expressed a similar sentiment. One of the 74 conditions is additional communication with the surrounding community on mitigation efforts, he said.

“We believe that the 74 conditions are those which will, to the extent necessary and possible, address the vast majority of all of those legitimate issues,” he said. “As we said to the (Stop) G3 folks, we understand that living adjacent to industrial activity can generate some issues. We’re working as hard as we can to address those issues.”

- See more at: http://www.nsnews.com/news/g3-termin....7doHNgfh.dpuf

[officedweller]

The Richardson Terminal expansion is open:

http://journalofcommerce.com/Project...lete-1016690W/

Here a video on it:

• Video Link

[Pinion]

Philip Ave overpass is complete and open. Note Lions Gate in the background if you're not familiar with the area.

New Philip Avenue overpass in the North Shore Trade Area now complete by Province of British Columbia, on Flickr

New Philip Avenue overpass in the North Shore Trade Area now complete by Province of British Columbia, on Flickr

[officedweller]

Thanks.

The overpass has a weird look to it
- since the steel structure looks much lighter than the roadway it is holding up (due to the concrete jersey barriers).

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by officedweller

The overpass has a weird look to it
- since the steel structure looks much lighter than the roadway it is holding up (due to the concrete jersey barriers).

Well of course it's the steel arch above the road deck that's supporting the weight. I expect that the bottom beams are mostly there just to provide a place to anchor the cross members which support the road surface.

[Klazu]

I noticed this overpass few weeks ago when driving through the area. I didn't even know one was under construction. I suppose it must have gone up quite quickly since I drive by every now and then.

[Pinion]

Cool view from Philip Ave now

View from Philip Ave overpass, North Vancouver by chrisjohann, on Flickr

[Xrayal]

Thought I would share what I come across. Their is a proposal for a new grain terminal/container for the surrey fraser docks.
Interesting but wise considering the constrains of the site that they are going to tuck in a mini container transfer facility. Mixed use industrial land!

http://www.frasergrainterminal.ca/
From site:

It will be used to trans-ship bulk grain products including wheat, barley, oil seeds, pulses.
This new facility will receive grains by rail and load the agri-products on to cargo vessels.

Following demolition of two existing buildings, new construction on the site will include:

-Unloading station and transfer tower with fully enclosed conveying equipment and a built-in dust suppression system.
-34 above-ground steel storage bins (24 x 3,000 t and 10 x 500 t)
-Travelling shiploader with telescopic cascading spout to reduce dust during vessel loading, replacing existing ship loader fitted with older technology
-Semi-loop rail track and holding tracks to reduce shunting during unloading
-Container loading facility and storage yards
-Rail and truck loading facility
-An administration building and maintenance shop

Fraser Grain Proposal Screen shot by mullux, on Flickr

[AverageJoe]

Originally Posted by Xrayal

Thought I would share what I come across. Their is a proposal for a new grain terminal/container for the surrey fraser docks.
Interesting but wise considering the constrains of the site that they are going to tuck in a mini container transfer facility. Mixed use industrial land!

That's a far cry from what they have now at Fraser-Surrey Docks. For the past 5-6 years they've been unloading grain from railcars and dumping it into a warehouse, where bulldozers and a movable conveyor belt would load the grain into ships. It is a slow and very dusty process.

This is big for the grain industry. G3 wants to build a large terminal by Lynnterm and Fibreco wants to have a grain facility as well.

[fredinno]

Why are there so few ports near Port Moody in comparison to Vancouver Harbour? Is the IronWorker's Memorial too low? Or is the water too low? Wasn't that area where the CP rail was supposed to terminate at first?

I'm asking out of genuine curiosity, because it's a little strange how Vancouver Harbour seems to stop at Second Narrows.

[AverageJoe]

Originally Posted by fredinno

Why are there so few ports near Port Moody in comparison to Vancouver Harbour? Is the IronWorker's Memorial too low? Or is the water too low? Wasn't that area where the CP rail was supposed to terminate at first?

I'm asking out of genuine curiosity, because it's a little strange how Vancouver Harbour seems to stop at Second Narrows.

I can't be sure about this but I don't think the geography and terrain permit a lot of building east of Second Narrows. There are a lot of hills on either side and any construction of any more port terminals would likely involve a lot of land reclamation, and in relatively deep water it probably would get pretty challenging and costly.

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by AverageJoe

I can't be sure about this but I don't think the geography and terrain permit a lot of building east of Second Narrows. There are a lot of hills on either side and any construction of any more port terminals would likely involve a lot of land reclamation, and in relatively deep water it probably would get pretty challenging and costly.

Right along the coast near Hastings and East North Van it's pretty flat. Same as in Port Moody.

[Alex Mackinnon]

The harbour gets shallower to the east, so there are less areas that are ideal for deepwater docks.