Cape Breton Firm Will Build Tar Ponds Barrier

Construction of a rock barrier between the Sydney Tar Ponds and Sydney Harbour will begin by June.

J&T Van Zutphen Construction of Port Hood has won the $1.4-million contract in a competitive tender that attracted four bidders.

The Sydney Tar Ponds Agency's evaluation of bids on the project considered both price and local economic benefits. Van Zutphen's bid had the lowest cost and the highest local economic benefits.

"This project marks an important step in preparation for the big cleanup," said Barbara Baillie, the agency's director of engineering services. "The Battery Point barrier will be essential in preventing the spread of sediments into Sydney Harbour once work begins in the Tar Ponds themselves."

The barrier will extend from Battery Point in the north end to the shoreline near the Provincial Energy Ventures property in Harbourside Commercial Park (formerly Sysco). It is designed to prevent contaminants from flowing into the harbour during cleanup of the Tar Ponds.

The barrier will consist of a rubble mound breakwater. A 50-metre gap near the midpoint will accommodate water flowing through the Muggah Creek estuary. Reinforced structures, lined with thick steel and filled with slag, will anchor the two sides of this gap.

Van Zutphen will first place a rock mattress across the bottom of the pond, then construct the core of the barrier using steel plant slag. A layer of geotextile fabric will cover the core, followed by a layer of coarse stone. To protect the structure from waves and ice, its harbour face will be lined with armor stone.

Design of the Battery Point barrier, by the engineering firm CBCL Ltd., included extensive computer modeling of surface water to ensure that the project does not aggravate flooding in the Townsend Street area of downtown Sydney.

Contractor Vincent Van Zutphen expects work to wrap up by the end of October.

The project is one of four preliminary preventative works intended to prevent environmental damage during preparations for the big cleanup.

The three others are: relocation of the Whitney Pier water main, completed last fall; the relocation of Coke Ovens Brook, begun last summer and wrapping up this fall; and the cleanup of the Sysco Cooling Pond, which is currently out to tender.

More details on the Battery Pond Barrier and all aspects of the Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens cleanup are available on the website at www.tarpondscleanup.ca .