Canada Creek Small Craft Harbour
Location: Canada Creek, NS
Client: Public Services and Procurement Canada
Timeframe: 2018
Key Personnel: Ron Keefe, Greg MacDonald
Project Description
Harbourside was engaged by Public Services and Procurement Canada to deliver the full redevelopment of the Canada Creek Small Craft Harbour—a small craft harbour serving the local fishing community. The existing facility was in severe disrepair and required a complete reconstruction to support federal divestiture plans. Harbourside was the most competitive and trusted source to provide end-to-end engineering services, from conceptual planning through detailed design and construction phase support. This ensured a smooth and coordinated delivery with federal and provincial partners.
Design Highlights
The new harbour infrastructure was designed to provide long-term reliability in one of the most challenging marine environments in Atlantic Canada. Key features include:
A tied Berlin-wall-style steel H-pile bulkhead system with reinforced concrete lagging panels.
Rock-socketed piles designed to engage exposed bedrock at the harbour bottom.
The extension of a 2.4 m × 3.0 m provincial box culvert, designed to maintain continuous flow adjacent to the new bulkhead wall.
Technical & Site Challenges
The Canada Creek site presented numerous constraints, all of which required engineering and tight collaboration during construction:
Bay of Fundy tidal extremes. The harbour going dry at low tide influenced the design elevations and construction sequencing.
A severely deteriorated existing wall required careful removal and risk-managed construction.
Limited working area and difficult site access made staging and equipment placement difficult.
Discovery of unknown culverts and stormwater flows during construction required quick response and solutions.
Challenging hydraulic conditions, including continuous stormwater discharge through the culvert system and adjacent to the new wall.
Harbourside worked directly with the contractor and government partners to resolve issues in real time, adapt details as conditions changed, and maintain project momentum.
Project Outcome
The rebuilt Canada Creek Small Craft Harbour provides a safe, reliable, and modern facility that supports the long-term needs of the fishing community and federal stakeholders. Harbourside’s full-service involvement—concept through construction—ensured a high-quality design, reduced construction risk, and a successful project outcome in a highly complex marine environment.