Port Mann/Highway 1 Improvement Project
Client
H5M (joint venture between Hatch Mott MacDonald and MMM Group)
Location
British Columbia, Canada
Project Duration
September 2008 – 2017
Background
The Port Mann / Highway 1 Improvement Project (PMH1) was delivered on behalf of the Province by Transportation Investment Corporation (TI Corp). TI Corp is a Crown Agency that acted as a public Concessionaire under a Head Concession Agreement between the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) and the BC Transportation Financing Authority (BCTFA). The PMH1 Project involved the construction of a new 10-lane, two-directional Port Mann Bridge, and the widening of Highway 1 from the McGill Street Interchange in Vancouver to the 216th Street Interchange in Langley, a distance of approximately 37 km.
PMH1 also included upgrading numerous major interchanges and generally improving access and safety along Highway 1. At the time, PMH1 was the largest transportation infrastructure project in BC history. The design-build scope also included a segment of the South Fraser Perimeter Road whose design and construction unfolded more or less simultaneously with PMH1.
Key environmental challenges related to: environmental management in the context of a large scale project; overall high regulatory complexity of the Project; environmental sensitivity of the Fraser River (crossed by the new replacement Port Mann Bridge and exposed to demolition of the previously existing bridge); more than 100 other stream crossings; requirement to provide extensive habitat compensation and mitigation (with obligations divided between TI Corp and the design-build contractor); requirement to mitigate adverse effect of highway widening on fish and wildlife passage (which required design and installation of special culverts); mitigation of potential adverse effects on species at risk including Pacific water shrew, peregrine falcon, red-legged frog, Oregon forest snail and nooksack dace; mitigation of potential impacts to drainage and water quality; requirement to mitigate operational and construction noise (involved construction of noise walls); large scale of site restoration and revegetation / landscaping; high archaeological sensitivity and extensive requirements relating to mitigation of impacts on Aboriginal rights and interests.
Services Provided
Hatfield was responsible for environmental management of the final design of on-shore (road improvement) sections of the Project, which included:
- advising on environmental risks relating to final design;
- conducting confirmatory environmental assessments to support final design of the Project;
- developing habitat compensation plans to offset impacts to fish and wildlife habitats within the design-build footprint;
- developing re-vegetation plans for the Project corridor;
- providing support to the design-builder’s applications for permits and authorizations;
- vetting climate resiliency for new infrastructure and infrastructure upgrades to ensure they were “climate proofed”;
- ensuring that environmental design and design implementation complied with the design-build agreement and regulatory requirements;
- providing environmental training to design managers and design team members;
- managing a team of environmental sub-consultants including Gebauer and Associates (wildlife assessment), Envirowest Consultants Ltd. (fisheries assessment, rare plant surveys, habitat compensation design and culvert design; rare plant surveys), Arcas Archaeological Consultants (archaeological impact assessments and archaeological monitoring), Diamond Head Consulting (hazard tree assessment, site revegetation and effectiveness monitoring of site restoration); and EBB Consulting (wildlife monitoring);
- providing environmental reporting and maintenance of databases and environmental records; and
- providing post-construction monitoring of the effectiveness of environmental mitigation and compensation measures.
Hatfield also acted as TI Corp’s Environmental Director, which included:
- leading TI Corp’s environmental team for the duration of the design-build phase and during the transition to Project operation;
- developing and implementing an environmental management system for the design-build phase of the Project and advising on environmental and regulatory risks;
- overseeing the delivery of TI Corp’s environmental obligations under the design-build agreement;
- providing environmental partnering with and oversight of the design-build contractor, involving review of the design-builder’s environmental submittals including: the Construction Environmental Management Plan; the Environmental Quality Management Plan; Environmental Work Plans; contamination assessments and remediation plans; confirmatory environmental assessments; habitat compensation and mitigation designs; and permit applications;
- managing compliance with the Environmental Assessment Certificate and Fisheries and Oceans Canada authorizations for the Project including applications for permit amendments to address changes in design and construction methods;
- acting as an environmental liaison between TI Corp and regulatory agencies, Aboriginal groups, and environmental stakeholders;
- overseeing the environmental auditing and monitoring programs;
- integrating environmental management with various aspects of final design development and construction planning such as highway and bridge design development, property acquisition, hydraulic modeling, geotechnical investigation, drainage design, and scheduling;
- providing environmental assessment and management for the demolition of the previously existing Port Mann Bridge;
- preparing environmental compliance reports for the Environmental Assessment Office; and
- managing environmental aspects of the transition from the design-build phase to the operation phase, including preparation of an Operational Environmental Management Plan.