Project by Irene Cantoni, Camilla Gaido, Tessa Jonker, and Laurie van Gijzen
Project team includes Kees Lokman, Tugce Conger, Doug Doyle, Amir Taleghani, and David Gill
The problem
The cliffs consist of sand with an unconsolidated nature and consequently a low shear strength, which makes them prone to instabilities and erosion. The erosion of the Point Grey cliffs threatens key infrastructure and buildings at the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus as well as important cultural and social assets of the local and regional community.
Overtime, several studies have investigated the causes of the cliff’s erosion. But studies on understanding what adaptation options can be implemented, and the feasibility of the range of these adaptation options have been missing.
The objectives
The project had five main objectives:
- Provide an overview of the study area and the factors contributing to cliff erosion;
- Give an outline of the stakeholders involved and present a legislative framework for possible erosion solutions;
- Identify a toolkit of measures to tackle cliff erosion with hard, hybrid and soft solutions;
- Develop four concepts for dealing with cliff erosion, and conduct a feasibility study for each of them in terms of technical, environmental, economical, legislative and social aspects; and
- Give insight in the existing knowledge gaps and missing data