Work to protect a Langley river in the 24300-block of 56th Avenue from erosion suffered during a 2021 atmospheric river was expected to wrap up by the end of the week, [today – Friday, Sept. 22], according to the Township of Langley.
In response to a Langley Advance Times query, an unsigned statement by the Township of Langley described it as a “bank protection project” along the Salmon River upstream of the bridge near 24364 56th Ave.
“The work is to protect the bank and bridge abutments from erosion subsequent to the 2021 atmospheric river event,” the statement said.
“Work should be largely completed by end of this week [Sept. 22] with potentially some minor finishing work next week.”
Construction of the $644,635 project started in mid-August.
Traffic was restricted to a single alternating lane for part of the work.
In November of 2021, 52.4 millimetres of rain fell in Langley in one day, beating the previous all-time record of 28 millimetres set in 1985.
Waters reached peak levels across wide areas of the Township, with many major roads blocked, including Fraser Highway near Langley City, Glover Road near Trinity Western University, 16th and Zero Avenues, and 264th Street in Glen Valley, where a slope gave way in a small landslide by the Green Tee Country Club (former Pagoda Ridge golf course).
The current work on the Salmon River is close to the same stretch of road that underwent $1 million of slope stabilization work earlier this year, in response to a Township report that described the road as “marginally stable under static conditions and likely unstable during a large magnitude seismic event.”
Westbound traffic was diverted away from the road from June till August, with the detour starting at 248th Street.
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