City calls bond to ensure completion of Brant Street Pier

The City of Burlington considers the contractor for the Brant Street Pier to be in default of its contractual obligations with the city to complete the pier, and has advised the contractor and the contractor’s bonding company of the default.

The city received notice from the contractor in December 2009 that the contractor was unwilling to complete the pier under the contract terms. As part of its procurement process, the city holds a performance bond from the contractor’s bonding company that is intended to allow the city to complete the project in the event of the default of the contractor. The city’s notification to the bonding company will start a process that may result in the existing contractor or a new contractor completing the pier.

Burlington City Council met for closed meetings on Jan. 12, 2010, where it discussed legal matters related to the pier. Complete details of the project cannot be released publicly since the city has begun a legal process by notifying the contractor’s bonding company of the default.

Despite numerous requests by the city for the contractor to proceed with the project—including an order from the city’s engineering consultant AECOM to remove and replace deficient steel in August 2009—there has been very little activity over the past six months.

So far, the city has spent $6.4 million of an approved $9.2 million budget on the Brant Street Pier project. Staff have said based on this latest delay, the pier will not be ready in 2010, and are assessing what impact the most recent developments will have on the project. They will report back to committee and council with details.

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The Brant Street Pier is 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