Geotechnical work ahead for City's Shawatlans communication plans

A location map noting of the preferred location for a SCADA
communication tower on Shawatalan Hill
(from City of PR's  BC Bid package)

How the city will monitor the new Woodworth dam and the rest of the civic water infrastructure in place, or yet to come is the focus for a recent City of Prince Rupert call for proposals.

The communication process known as the SCADA system, is the application that allows the city to remotely monitor and operate the components of the various utilities.

Key to that will be the need for a proposed Shawatlan Hill SCADA Tower to transmit those signals, a project that the City describes below:

The City will soon be upgrading these systems to utilize radio communications to achieve greater data transmission rates and reliability. For those assets located on the mainland, a new radio tower will be required to host this equipment. 

The City wishes to perform a preliminary geotechnical investigation of its proposed site to confirm its suitability and to inform the design and construction of the tower to be placed there.

The Scope of what the City is looking for is as follows

Collect and review of all available background information on the site, including topological maps, LiDAR and satellite imagery, and surficial bedrock geology; 

Mobilize equipment to site and advance one borehole to competent bedrock or a maximum depth of 30 meters and installation of a standpipe piezometer; and, 

Prepare a factual report summarizing findings from subsurface investigation of the borehole, including but not limited to standard penetration testing, moisture content sampling, grain-size distribution, and Attenberg limits all to be carried out with consideration being given to a focus on value to the City and Project budget

The call for bids comes at the end of the month, the timeline towards the preliminary steps of the project is outlined below:

City of Prince Rupert Operations Director Richard Pucci has spoken to the project a few times over the last six months at Prince Rupert City Council sessions, his most recent notes coming in January of this year.

The SCADA planning was also part of the review of Capital Projects by City Council in December.

The full documentation of the BC Bid package can be reviewed from the BC Bid Portal.

More notes on past Bids and Awards can be examined from our archive page.