Upgrades to former Hantsport aboiteau about a month from completion

It will be about a month before upgrades and repairs are complete on the structure that replaced the failed dike and gate system that once protected Hantsport, N.S., from incoming sea water.

In response to mounting fears about flooding, erosion and tainted well water, the province's Transportation Department replaced the aboiteau at the mouth of the Halfway River this past spring with two cement box culverts.

But it didn't take long for the tides in the area to shift things and cause erosion. A contractor has since been on site building an additional berm on the river side of the culverts in hopes that solves the problem.

Mark Peachey, the direct of maintenance and operations for the Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Department, said they aren't sure why the replacement project failed, despite a third-party assessment of the situation. That review recommended the option now being pursued.

Although some residents in the area have voiced concern that the province hasn't constructed a new aboiteau, Peachey said what people knew as the aboiteau failed years before the rest of the structure.

"It's been functioning as two wooden box culverts [and] free-flowing water," he said. "We reinstated what was there just prior to its failing."

The proof will be in the results

Rob Zwicker, a municipal councillor for the area, said he expects people who are sceptical will need to see results before they are reassured about the work that's happening.

Zwicker, who is an engineer, said he has faith in the team from the province.

"I think [Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal] is full of enough quality people that they can come up with a solution that will partially satisfy everybody, but I think it's got to be wait and see."

People will be happy as long as the project is able to limit surrounding erosion, protect the community from flooding and also address concerns about fish passage, said Zwicker.

Peachey said they wouldn't know the final bill for the work until it's complete. The project last spring cost about $4 million. The province, meanwhile, has pursued the owner of the rail line that used to run atop the aboiteau for costs related to the repair work.

MORE TOP STORIES