Labour costs make up a good chunk of the $350,000 first-year operation and maintenance price tag for the upcoming Mamquam Blind Channel pedestrian drawbridge.
"I will note that labour costs make up a significant portion of this total annual cost — approximately 70 to 80%," said David Marrow, the municipality's director of major projects.
"And that is due to the onerous operational requirements for the first year. So as discussed previously, if we are able to reduce the operational parameters for years two and beyond, based on the data that we collect during the first year, we expect those annual costs to come down significantly."
On April 12, municipal staff presented an update to council about the proposed pedestrian bridge that will serve as a link between the waterfront landing SEAandSKY development and downtown. The municipality will be responsible for the cost of operating and maintaining the bridge. The developers BlueSky (BOSA) Properties and Kingswood Properties pay to build the bridge.
During the meeting, Marrow said that the first year of operation is expected to be the costliest.
The drawbridge, which should fully open and close within 10 minutes, must initially be monitored 24/7.
However, authorities will be keeping detailed records as to how often and when it must be lifted to allow boats to sail through the Mamquam Blind Channel.
"So after the first year of operation, we can take that data, and, let's say we don't get very many openings at a certain time of year or certain time of day," said Marrow. "We can take that data and go to Transport Canada and make a case to reduce the operational parameters."
He noted that during the approval process for the bridge, Transport Canada did an inventory of vessels that typically frequent the area.
"They noted very few sailboats and other vessels that would actually require an opening of the bridge," continued Marrow. "So based on the fact that there aren't that many vessels that would actually require an opening, we're confident that after the first year of operation, we can take this data showing the number of lists that we have, and get Transport Canada to hopefully reduce the operational hours in the parameters and effort required for years two and beyond."
Marrow said that public works staff operating the bridge would also be used for other purposes in the area, such as maintaining the nearby waterfront landing park.
"We don't anticipate that we'd have staff members sitting in that kiosk 24/7," said Marrow. "We're going to repurpose them and use them for other activities as much as we can."
The up-to $350,000 cost estimate does not account for the fact that staff working on the bridge will be used for other activities as well, he said.
The bridge is anticipated to be completed in 2023.
