The Decommissioning of an existing paper mill in Howe Sound required careful environmental planning, coordination of several work teams and a watchful eye on the ever-changing weather.

Located Old Woodfibre Mill Site, seven kilometers south of Squamish on Howe Sound, VanPile was responsible for decommissioning all existing Old Mill Marine infrastructure including :

• Removal of 3,500+ creosote timber piles;
• Removal of 6,500 tons of creosote timber;
• Demolition of a warehouse;
• Demolition of concrete docks and pipelines;
• Installation of new outfall.

The project faced many challenges but was still completed within schedule and under budget.

The timeline was very strict as it had to be completed in single fisheries window and under a  very tight budget. Permitting problems had  one of two crews shut down for over a month and there was a “Bat window” which delayed warehouse demolition.

The VanPile crew also faced unforeseen issues when a large storm left 40 workers stranded on site with the access float damaged and no longer usable.  Coordination of the evacuation and removal of equipment from site took place during 8’ swells and 65 knot winds.