There’s plenty of dirt piles scattered on the green at the bottom of the Glenmerry toboggan hill as an irrigation company lays out new watering lines in Lower Centennial Park.
Trail council recently awarded a $96,000 contract to AL-VA Irrigation Limited for respective line replacements. Of note, AL-VA Irrigation put in the sole valid bid for the job, which was posted on the city’s website and BC Bid in July.
In an Aug. 5 report to council, David Moorhead, ground and roads superintendent, said the old irrigation system at this park was the last remaining hydraulic system within the city. Because it was dated, repairs were pricey and difficult to complete due to lack of parts.
In 2020, repairs were made to the system to maintain operations through the season.
“However, because of the obsolete hydraulic system, parts needed for the repair were costly,” he explained. “We were also unable to repair one section of this system during the latter half of the season and as such we were unable to sufficiently irrigate the area.”
Earlier this year when the irrigation crew energized the system, new leaks sprung up.
“These would need to be remedied to irrigate the park through the spring and summer,” Moorhead reasoned. “These repairs would be a considerable, unnecessary expense as funds have already been allocated to replace the system in its entirety.”
The decision was made to forego these significant fixes, though intermediate repairs were completed to irrigate the space as much as possible, with the assumption the system would be replaced in the fall.
“Ideally, this project would have been completed earlier in the year,” Moorhead said. “However, with the lack of precipitation in 2021, we were unable to complete the work in these conditions without losing a majority of the turf while work was completed.”
Lower Centennial Park is a 1.2-hectare green space that forms part of the total Centennial Park system.
Outlined in their bid, AL-VA Irrigation has offered a three-year warranty on the project parts and service.
The expected completion date of the job is Oct. 11.
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