Early construction activities are progressing in preparation for the installation of the gas pipeline within the Indian River Watershed. The majority of work at this time is focused on upgrading and developing safe access for our crews. This includes upgrading roads, installing new culverts, and constructing temporary and permanent bridges. Some notable upcoming construction activities include: Constructing and installing a temporary bridge across the Indian River in the Indian River Watershed to support pipeline construction activities. Our public notice with details can be viewed here. We anticipate construction to begin in May 2024 and to conclude in the fall.Moving ahead with a pipeline crossing of the Indian River in the Indian River Watershed. Our public notice from the Transport Canada process can be viewed here. We anticipate this work to take about two months, beginning later this summer. To prioritize safety while this work is underway, we’ve installed two gates along the Stawamus Indian River Forest Service Road (FSR) at kilometre point 3 and kilometre point 10 to prevent access when construction makes it unsafe to do so.From May until mid-June, the work being carried out will be south of kilometre point 10. This gate will be closed to restrict access without having to close the northern gate at kilometre point 3. Starting mid-June, our work will continue north of kilometre point 10, at which time we’ll enact intermittent gate closures at kilometre point 3. Signage will be posted at the start of the Stawamus Indian River FSR and at the closure point advising the public of the closure hours. Please note that large trucks will continue using the Stawamus River Indian and Mamquam FSRs while travelling into Squamish and we encourage you to take the necessary precautions if using these roads. We’re committed to completing these activities in an environmentally responsible manner and have been closely engaging Indigenous groups on this work.We thank you for your patience as we strive to complete this work safely and as quickly as possible.

As construction progresses, we have been clearing work space in the Stawamus Indian River Valley along our right of way. Our contractors have now begun transporting logs cleared through these activities, and we anticipate that this will continue over a roughly two-week period. Trucks will travel up the Stawamus Indian Forest Service Road (FSR) and along the Mamquam River FSR towards Highway 99 North for log sorting in Squamish.We thank the public for their patience as we work to safely carry out these activities.

We’re using a tunnel solution for the portion of pipeline between Squamish and Woodfibre LNG’s site to protect and avoid surface impacts to the Skwelwil’em Squamish Estuary. This approach, which involves constructing a tunnel around 25 meters below the estuary, arose directly from Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) input when we began engaging on the EGP Project more than a decade ago.After months of preparing the BC Rail and Woodfibre LNG sites, tunnelling is set to begin.Beginning in early May, the public may notice additional trucks travelling to and from the BC Rail site. In particular:We anticipate a gradual increase of up to 20 roundtrip trucks per day to transport excavated tunnel material as tunnelling gets underway. The excavated material is soft ground soil from tunnelling.The trucks will primarily travel from the BC Rail site along Government Road, then south on Queens Way and east along Industrial Way to Highway 99. From there, the material will be transported to a licensed facility for disposal.The trucks are expected to operate from Monday to Friday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.While noise levels associated with tunnelling are not expected to impact the community, continuous noise monitoring is in place at both sites.If you have any questions about this work, we encourage you to reach out to the FortisBC team at [email protected] or call 1-855-380-5784.To learn more about the tunnel and our commitment to protecting environmentally sensitive areas on all our projects, read our story on Protecting Diverse Ecosystems at every Stage of a Project.