10.0 Maintenance Issues

10.1 Maintenance Corridors

Within the 30m right-of-way from Station 0+000 to 0+210 the south bank shall be left to vegetate naturally and should not require maintenance. The north bank shall be maintained to ensure woody vegetation is removed from the main conveyance portion of the drain as defined in Section 6.7, Item g).

A 6m wide maintenance corridor has been reserved on the north side of the drain from Station 0+000 to Station 0+200. This maintenance corridor should be used to access the Drain for any maintenance that may be required within this drain segment. The remaining segments of the drain (Station 0+200 to 0+670) can be accessed for drain maintenance purposes from within the Broadway Street / PAR right-of-way for any location along the north side of the drain, or from the City’s property on the south side of the drain.

10.2 Steel-lined Channel

The steel wall segment of the drain from Station 0+0210 to 0+0290 may require maintenance to remove any large debris that may impede flow though this segment. The steel walls themselves are estimated to have a minimum 100-year life expectancy and should not require much in terms of maintenance.

As noted in Sections 5.4 and 6.4, the steel-lined channel segment was needed to reduce the total channel width, in order to avoid encroaching into Windsor Port Authority lands. An encroachment into WPA lands would have significantly complicated the review and approval process, and would have potentially delayed the overall construction schedule.

We note that the preliminary design envisioned an open earth-lined channel for the entire improved drain. An open channel section that matches the upstream channel would have provided sufficient conveyance capacity for the intended drainage function. At such time that the steel sheet piling or associated steel framing reaches the end of its service life, consideration should be given to replacing the steel-lined channel with an earth-lined channel. Some adjustment of the horizontal channel alignment through this reach would be needed to avoid impacts to the adjacent infrastructure.

10.3 Terrestrial and Aquatic Plantings

As presented in Section 6.7, the project comprised significant works aimed at enhancing the habitat function of the drainage works. For example, the new drain was intensely planted with desirable terrestrial and aquatic plant species as exhibited in the Drawings. The intent of the design was to introduce sufficient plant materials to foster quick revegetation of the disturbed areas and establishment of a diverse and healthy flora community – one that is beneficial to the local terrestrial and aquatic fauna.