In the past week BC Ferries has pointed to a prohibitive price tag on the upgrade of the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal as a reason for considering the closure of the route to Departure Bay. Now, saying they won’t cut that ferry, BC Ferries CEO Mike Corrigan says that fares will have to go up in order to the cover costs of the planned upgrade. Bowen Islander and candidate for council, Michael Chapman, says the economic discussion is clouding a bigger issue: that in the event of a major earthquake, passengers in their cars, waiting in line to board the Queen of Capilano, would be crushed by the overhead transfer deck.
Chapman says that he decided to file a freedom of information request last March, after chatting with someone who was working on the ceiling above the Bowen ferry marshalling area.
“I’d been noticing this on-going work for months. It was very noisy and disruptive, and initially I was just thinking that this was too loud, especially for people who might be waiting there with babies or young kids,” says Chapman. “But then I asked the guy who was working up there what he was doing, and he told me he was doing some seismic work. That’s when I decided to research the issue further on my own.”
He says that he received fifteen emails with three to four reports each on July 29th, and he’s been sifting through them ever since . He says that the recent media reports about the Horseshoe Bay terminal have motivated him to get the information out there.
“Bowen bound passengers are marshalled at the end of the parking compound, under the transfer deck – which is built on fill that will liquefy in the case of a major earthquake,” says Chapman. “I know that when it comes to construction your costs go way up when it comes to unknown base structures, I think this number of $200 million comes out of nowhere. It would likely cost them a lot more than that to rebuild that terminal in a way that is safe for all passengers.”
Chapman points to a document sent to BC Ferries at the end of May, 1999, by Klohn-Crippen Engineering, as the critical document outlining what would happen in the terminal in the case of an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 to 7.0.
“The structure we wait under would collapse,” says Chapman. “Following that report, BC Ferries chose the most economical option to upgrade the terminal and limit their liability, which was to install catch-wires in the ceiling. This does not prevent collapse, but it would make the structure collapse in a more uniform way. Likely, the people driving on to the ferry above us would survive, but not us.”
Chapman offers a solution that he says is far more economical than re-building the Horseshoe Bay terminal.
“Just move Bowen passengers to the open air line-up, the lower part of the line-up to Nanaimo. The vehicles waiting to Nanaimo can just wait further up the road.”
Chapman says that he intends to call BC Ferries and make the request as soon as the election is over.
