Work at the Kus-kus sum site has resumed and the removal of the concrete wall is one of the first jobs to tackle this year.
“We’re happy to announce that we have re-mobilized to the Kus-kus-sum site for the spring and as you have probably noticed started removing the remaining concrete,” said Caitlin Pierzchalski, executive director at Comox Valley Project Watershed Society.
Most of the remaining concrete is in the form of a 170m-long wall found buried just behind the steel-piling wall that separates the site from the Courtenay River. Removing this concrete wall is the next step of the restoration and will be undertaken over the next two weeks. The steel-piling wall will remain in place throughout the work on-site and its removal will be the very last step of the restoration work.
“To remove the concrete wall, we will have to excavate near the river,” said Project Watershed staff biologist Jennifer Sutherst. “Since the Courtenay River is a tidal river, the water and water table are much higher during high tides. This means we will have to time our work with the low tide windows.”
For the next few weeks, those tidal windows fall later in the evening and work will have to be timed accordingly. Due to this, work at Kus-kus-sum will start later in the morning (10 or 11 a.m.) and will continue later into the evening (7-8 p.m.) over the next two weeks. Work will be kept within the City of Courtenay noise bylaws.
“We will do what we can to minimize disruptions to our lovely neighbors and community,” said Pierzchalski.
Project Watershed is working closely with a marine engineer to ensure the steel-piling wall remains structurally sound throughout this process. They will continue environmental and archeological monitoring, and will be monitoring daily upstream, downstream, and at-site water quality in the Courtenay River.
If you’d like to follow along with project updates, please see the Project Watershed website at projectwatershed.ca or follow them on social media (@CVPWS). Questions can also be emailed to info@projectwatershed.ca.