Little Harbour (L’Ardoise) Reconstruction
Location: Little Harbour (L’Ardoise), Richmond County, Nova Scotia
Client: Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Small Craft Harbours (DFO SCH)
Timeframe: 2019-2023
Key Staff: Mark Reynolds, Mark Pertus, Brandon Fillmore, Vince Goreham
Project Description
Little Harbour (L’Ardoise) is in Richmond County, NS. This core fishing harbour generally serves up to 25 commercial fishing vessels consisting primarily of lobster boats, as well as groundfish, herring, mackerel and snow crab. Harbourside has provided design and construction services for a number of significant capital projects in this harbour, but this project was focused on reconstruction of the Berlin-wall marginal wharf, on the west side of the harbour. Design work for this project was completed in February 2020. Construction was completed in November 2023.
Harbourside’s Role
Harbourside Engineering was engaged as the prime consultant for reconstruction of the existing timber cribwork marginal wharf on the west side of Little Harbour. The services provided can be broken down into distinct phases: pre-design services, design services, tender support, and contract administration and construction services.
Marginal Wharf Pre-design Services
Pre-design services began with consultation with stakeholders. This was to get a sense of the community needs, and the requirements of local fishermen. After this, Harbourside Geotechnical Consultants conducted a preliminary site investigation to ascertain the underlying conditions of the wharf structure. With this in mind, and by coordinating with our sub-consultants, Harbourside Engineering developed a preliminary design report summarizing our options analysis. This included our recommended preferred option with cost estimates for development.
Detailed Engineering Design Services
In the next phase of the project, we completed the detailed engineering design of the recommended option. Through our options analysis it was determined that Berlin-wall encapsulation with Deadman tieback anchors was the superior choice. Detailed design included the development and review of the construction documents, such as drawings, specifications, and capital cost estimates at 50%, 90% and 100% completion of the tender package. Part of the detailed engineering design phase also included coordinating with and reviewing the recommendations and deliverables submitted by our sub-contractors. These deliverables included drawings, specifications and capital cost estimates for the electrical work. Throughout the project Harbourside Geotechnical Consultants were involved, providing advice and constructability at various stages.
Prior to submitting these deliverables to our client, all sub-contractor work was reviewed and approved by the project manager.
Tendering, and Contract Administration
After the construction documents were developed, Harbourside provided contract administration services to DFO SCH. During this phase of the project, Harbourside Engineering supported DFO SCH during bid review and tender award. Harbourside also organized regular construction meetings to ensure progress remained on schedule. As part of this phase, our engineers also coordinated and completed on-site inspection services at regular intervals. Progress and cost tracking, review of contractor submittals and response to RFIs, and interpretation of contract documents also fell under Harbourside Engineering’s purview. All responses to contractor CCO’s, and recommendations thereof to DFO SCH were reviewed and communicated through Harbourside. Finally, Harbourside completed as-built drawings, and project completion documents. Construction was completed in November 2023 and the project completion report was issued in January 2024.
As part of this project, Harbourside was involved in supporting DFO SCH with developing submissions to obtain the environmental permits. Harbourside also supported DFO SCH with their submissions to Transport Canada to obtain approval to complete the construction of this structure. Harbourside provided contract administration services to DFO SCH during the construction phase of this project.
Unique Challenges
Challenges involved with reconstruction of the Little Harbour marginal wharf were generally the result of the original geometry and condition of existing structures. Encapsulation of the existing marginal wharf meant that the new Berlin-wall needed to accommodate angular changes in the alignment of the wall, which also required coordination of the deadman anchor walls. Additionally, detailed design of the reinforced concrete slab-on-grade involved consideration of anticipated slab movements at each kink in the marginal wharf. Structural tie-in between the new, taller and wider Berlin-wall marginal wharf to the existing timber pilework marginal wharf required a suspended reinforced concrete ramp and a transitional timber pile fender wall to prevent a hard corner in the berthing face: which would have otherwise been a hazard to fishing vessels.
Construction generally proceeded smoothly. A small number of change orders were approved, generally being related to the discovery of adjacent structures (to remain) being in worse condition than originally anticipated. The project was nearly completed in April 2023, but completion was postponed to minimize disruption to the crab fishing season. Final installation of prefabricated timber sheathing panels was completed between October 31 and November 16, 2023, which marked completion of construction. Success of this project can be attributed to proper planning, effective and timely communication during construction between DFO SCH, Harbourside and the contractor.
Social Impact
As an important fishing wharf, the rehabilitation of the Little Harbour L’Ardoise wharf is an significant development in terms of safety, and support for the local community. Where so many different catches are brought through the L’Ardoise harbour, it is critical fishing thoroughfare that sustains local industries. The rehabilitation of this infrastructure ensures the longevity of these industries,