Okanagan Rail Corridor Ballast Testing and ESA Reviews

Location

Kelowna, British Columbia

Expertise

Infrastructure – Active Transportation

Environmental – Contaminated Sites Management

Infrastructure – Environmental Assessment

The Okanagan Rail Trail is an initiative to convert 48 kilometres of the decommissioned CN rail line into a multi-modal transportation corridor, between Coldstream and Kelowna, BC. The City of Kelowna, District of Lake Country, Regional District of the North Okanagan, and the Okanagan First Nation are working together as the Inter-Jurisdictional Development Team to develop a public recreational trail within the corridor.

The trail will connect communities and natural features along the corridor, including the shoreline of Kalamalka, Wood and Ellison lakes, as well as orchard and pasture in the Agricultural Land Reserve.

The Inter-Jurisdictional Development Team retained Associated Environmental to complete environmental site assessments in support of feasibility, design, and construction of the trail. This included testing ballast for acid rock drainage potential, and preliminary reviews of previous contaminated sites assessments to help locate sampling areas for representative ballast material for acid-base accounting analysis. The results of this testing supported maintaining ballast in situ, and building the trail surface over the existing subgrade.

Development costs were raised through generous donations from the public and businesses who are contributing money and in-kind support. Associated is proud to be a part of the team supporting the development of the Okanagan Rail Trail.