The new $1.5-million dock at Cobble Hill’s Arbutus Ridge community has been temporarily closed.
Storms during the weekend of Feb. 17-18 caused damage to the dock, which opened with great fanfare on Jan. 31, and the management at Arbutus Ridge decided to close the facility until the damage has been repaired.
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Dave Coulter, general manager of the 30-year-old senior’s seaside neighbourhood, sent an email to residents on Feb. 23 stating that damage to the dock’s transition plates and some pile well bull rails from the storms have resulted in the decision to close the facility for safety reasons until further notice.
“Owners are asked to not moor boats or to walk on the marine facility until the strata advises it is safe to do so,” Coulter said in the email.
“Your understanding and support of this strata request is appreciated.”
But Jurgen Duewel, a past president of the community who has been instrumental in the dock project, said the damage was mostly cosmetic and not structural, and he expects the dock to be reopened by mid week.
“There’s always some hiccups with any new project and the contractors have been great at finding the problems and fixing them under the dock’s warranty,” Duewel said.
“The dock was never really unsafe after the storms and it was only closed because the transition plates had to be taken off to be repaired, leaving some gaps in places. There’s a lot of seniors here and we didn’t want to take any chances.”
The dock’s final design was approved by the residents of Arbutus Ridge and then engineered and refined by Herold Engineering and North-West Hydraulics.
Cowichan Bay’s Pacific Industrial Marine was awarded the construction contract.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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