City is ‘surprised and disappointed’ following Brant Street Pier public notice

June 18, 2010

The City of Burlington is surprised and disappointed that Harm Schilthuis and Sons Ltd., who began legal proceedings against the City of Burlington in January 2010, has chosen to make selected accusations about the outstanding matters between the two parties by publishing a notice in the June 18 Burlington Post.

See full statement.

A brief history of the Brant Street Pier in City Talk

The City of Burlington is in the process of completing an audit to determine in what condition the city’s general contractor, Harm Schilthuis & Sons Limited (HSS), has left the partially constructed Brant Street Pier.

AECOM, the city’s project consultant for the pier, will be on site with a survey company the week of June 14 to complete the survey component of the audit. This will include a surveyor on shore and a crew in a small boat.

The survey is necessary as HSS advised the city in December 2009 that the company was unwilling to complete its contract. As part of the audit, the city is undertaking a survey of the pier and the shoreline work. The audit and survey will help define work remaining in the contract and assist in the city's discussion with the bonding company.

Residents may also see other audit-related activities on site over the next few weeks.

When completed, the Brant Street Pier will be a signature destination and attraction in Spencer Smith Park at The Waterfront at Downtown Burlington. The pier will extend 132 metres over Lake Ontario and provide breathtaking views of the lake and Burlington’s shoreline.

A concrete walkway will connect the pier to the existing promenade in the east end of the park. The pier with its distinctive S-shape will provide day-use docking for recreational and tour boats. It will feature a lookout level above the deck and include a wind turbine to generate renewable energy for all pier and district lighting.

The pier design is accessible for pedestrians and maintenance equipment. The pier project represents the final phase of the Downtown Waterfront Project that includes the now-completed

• Expansion of the Burlington Art Centre
• Construction of the 380-vehicle Locust Street parking facility (with retail and office space at street level)
• Addition of Discovery Landing at the foot of Maple Avenue (including an observatory, restaurant, water-jet feature and pond for skating and model boats).

The Brant Street Pier is an open structure, elevated above the water.

• The height above water is approximately five metres.
• The pier is built on 14 caissons each 1.4 metres in diameter and drilled into a bedrock foundation.
• The pier is 132 metres long, excluding the floating day-use docks.
• The pier is 7.5 metres wide, about the same width as the Spencer Smith promenade
• The pier will feature safety handrails.

The Brant Street Pier design includes two major elements, a land element and a beacon. .

• The beacon is located 80 metres from the shore. This feature has a lookout level and a lighted beacon combined with a wind turbine.
• The lookout is 20 metres in diameter and four metres above the main pier deck.
• The wind turbine is 22 metres high.
• The wind turbine atop the beacon and lookout will generate electric power for the pier district’s lighting system.
• The wind turbine generates 10 kilowatts of electrical power and is an energy conservation demonstration project funded by Burlington Hydro.
• The land element that connects with the pier is 24 metres in diameter. It will provide a new activity area and will be the launching point from the shore to the pier.

On land, a new concrete walkway connects the Brant Street Pier to the existing waterfront promenade.

• The new pedestrian walkway is nine metres wide.
• The walkway and pier deck are tan coloured concrete with distinctive colour graphics stained into the surface.
  New design elements for the pier include pedestrian lighting and park furniture, such as benches.
• A new water main and hydrants have been installed on the shore to provide water service to the end of the pier for fire protection
• The pier project includes re-grading and landscaping of the east lawn of Spencer Smith Park. Due to the elevated height of the pier, a natural bowl-shaped amphitheatre will be created.

• The pier will feature seasonal or fair weather boating for 22 boats as well as a 30-metre concrete breakwater. The boating facility will be removed for the fall and winter months and moored using anchors in the spring and summer boating season.
• The water depth at the boating site is three to four metres.
• The floating concrete breakwater will allow through some larger vessels, including tour boats.
• A day use fee will be charged for boating. The docking facility will be managed by the city’s Parks and Recreation department while the city’s Roads and Parks Maintenance department will maintain the pier.
• The stair and ramp access to the boat slips and docks will be available from the end of the pier.

Environmental Features

• The elevated pier allows the free flow of the water under the structure permitting natural processes such as the drifting of water to the shore and the movement of fish and other water creatures.
• The natural beach formation west of the Travelodge Hotel Burlington on the Lake has been preserved.
• The project includes fish habitat compensation and enhancements for Sheldon Creek as approved by Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans.

The Brant Street Pier by the Numbers

• Coloured concrete = 1,200 square metres
• Pedestrian walkway and shore node = 1,490 square metres
• The new armour stone for shore protection = 1,900 tonnes
• Safety handrails = 330 metres
• View of Lake Ontario and the city of Burlington = 1,000 words

The creation of the Brant Street Pier is made possible through funding partnerships with the Canada-Ontario Infrastructure Program, Halton Region, the City of Burlington and Burlington Hydro.

Keep up to date

For more information, contact 905-335-7841 or The Waterfront at Burlington Downtown at 905-335-7766