Kelowna Mt. "Resort"

Kelowna Mt.

Had a very curious visit to Kelowna Mt. yesterday. This recreation area is a work in progress consisting of a ski hill, DH bike park, vineyard, winery, restaurant and collection of suspension bridges, including the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in North America.

The scope of the project is mind boggling; its implementation is freaky!

As much as I was floored at what they have achieved to date - suspension-bridge-wise, as an apprenticed carpenter and former WCB representative, I was gob-smacked at the way that the project is being run.

The area is one huge construction site; heavy equipment is running all over the place, guys with power tools are cutting, drilling, hammering and grinding away -- but the public at large - and there were, I'm guessing, perhaps 50 of us wandering around while I was there, appear to be allowed to meander anywhere that they wish throughout the site.

I did not encounter a single zone where I, 'Joe Public' was barred from entering, nor did I witness a single 'no-admittance' or 'no trespassing' sign.

There are no staff directing traffic; automotive or pedestrian, nor were there any staff with waivers, nor ticket-issuing / fee collecting. Liability appears to be nothing more than a word on a piece of paper that has been misplaced.

The public are free to explore the suspension bridges, (all) of which feature truly significant gaps between the bridge-decking ends and the concrete abutments that one steps on and off as they enter each end of the bridge. The opportunities for brutal injuries here alone are amazing!

A great number of the wooden 2X10's which comprise the bridge decks feature ends which are cracked and splintered; keep in mind that these are the load-bearing points in the design.

In addition, countless planks (2X10's) have a crazy number of nail holes at the bearing points. These board-ends sport both populated and empty nail-holes - evidence of nails having popped from bridge movement, followed by workmen banging in additional nails in a vain attempt to stem the tide of nails backing out from constant structural sway.

The worrisome point is that we're talking about critical structures barely a year old, which - in my opinion - should be closed for maintenance, but are wide open to the public, completely unmonitored!

The engineering of the bridge decking, the main bridge stairway - which hilariously features steps whose treads pitch down and away from those attempting to navigate them, the physical sundial which has been incorrectly constructed so that it presents a one-hour error (confirmed by a worker on the job) and the absolutely chaotic construction job-site, all add up to one of, if not 'the' - most bizarre construction sites that I have ever encountered.

I have absolutely no idea how this place hasn't 't been shut down yet.

If you wanna' see it, get up there now, because I foresee some kinda' hardcore, opportunistic lawsuit shutting the place sooner than later! That, or the local WCB rep' will pull his butt out of the office long enough to have a peek at this construction madhouse - and crap himself...


Impressive Spans




Not so impressive workmanship (should be pre-drilled wood, held to the superstructure with Nylocks)




Problem, what problem? (the smallest of the many gaps!) Opens & closes, moves side-to-side with the entire weight of the span behind it... (think "Jaws of Hell")




Andrew

www.kelownamountain.com