No one was hurt in a Monday, Sept. 12 incident that ended with a semi-truck on its side on Whistler Mountain, according to the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW).
The truck was hired by the contractor in charge of the Olympic Reservoir Replacement Project. It rolled onto its side while transporting a full load of concrete forms.
"That is a challenging road to manoeuvre, and thankfully no one was hurt," said Acting Mayor Jen Ford. "The road was closed and then reopened... I think everyone walked away feeling pretty lucky."
The project — originally budgeted for $3.5 million in 2016 and another $800,000 in 2017 — has met with unforeseen costs and delays this summer.
At its Sept. 6 meeting, council amended its five-year financial plan bylaw to add $1.6 million to the project's 2016 budget.
"Once the contractor got into the ground some additional engineering costs were identified and some additional design work — they had to realign the pipe from the original proposed route of the pipeline," explained Chief Administrative Officer Mike Furey. "They found another direction that they could take, we thought it was worth the extra costs, and that's why it was brought back for council's consideration."
The additional costs will be funded from the water capital reserves.
"The budget is a living, breathing being, and it's definitely always being looked at," Ford said. "Nothing is ever set in stone as far as... if money isn't being used in one area but is needed elsewhere, then that's what we need to do."
One such on-the-fly change was the decision to hold off on the proposed Gateway Loop Improvement Project, which was originally scheduled to be completed this fall but has now been delayed until next year.
"It was a combination of things," Ford said of the decision to delay. "It was a really complex project that we sent out, and it was three really unique areas kind of put under one umbrella. After we received the bids we decided that it was too complex of a situation and that it was better for the municipality for us to take it back in, rejig it a little bit and we'll put (the tender) back out in the spring to look for a different type of proposal."
While some projects haven't gone as plan, others are right on schedule.
The Alpine Water Main Replacement Project — one of the biggest ticket items in the municipal budget in the past couple of years — is nearing the end of its construction.
The project had $6 million budgeted for it in 2016.
Installation and testing work is still ongoing on Timber Lane, Parkwood Drive and Meadow Lane, while road patching will be taking place throughout the neighbourhood in the last weeks of September.
Once construction is done, all that's left is the paving project currently scheduled for 2017.
Updates on the project — including an overview and Frequently Asked Questions section — can be found online at www.whistler.ca/services/water-and-wastewater/alpine-water-main.
