PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
Fountain Slide
Design-Build Track
Mitigation Project
AGRA Foundations Limited plays a critical role in
stabilizing a railway bed near Lillooet, B.C.
By Mark Halsall
Situated in the rugged Fraser River Canyon about 15
km east of Lillooet, B.C., the Fountain Slide is part of
an ancient earthflow that’s causing a mountainside to
creep slowly but inexorably downwards. A Canadian
National (CN) Railway line and as well as B.C.’s Highway 99 run
right through this active slide area, and as one might imagine
it’s had a substantial impact on both.
The impact on the CN line has been significantly lessoned,
thanks to a track mitigation project completed in November
2016 that has improved slope stability around an existing
beam and lagging retaining wall that supports the railway bed.
The innovative design-build solution was the work of
Nicholson Construction Company and AGRA Foundations
Limited, both part of the Soletanche Freyssinet group of
companies that performs geotechnical construction work
throughout Canada and the U.S.
Jonathan Hazenberg is president of AGRA Foundations, the
Edmonton-based firm that served as general contractor for
the project. AGRA’s typical scope of work includes pile foundations,
retaining structures and shoring systems as well as slope
stability projects.
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