Naturalization

Grindstone Creek Stream Rehabilitation

Harrington McAvan Ltd. was retained in 2000 to assist the City of Burlington in the rehabilitation of Grindstone Creek in Hidden Valley Park. Sections of the water course were subject to severe bank erosion, the result of several lengths of hardened bank structures (masonry and gabion stone walls), an inadequately sized floodplain, and a limestone ledge that acted as a physical barrier, preventing passage upstream for many species of fish.

The project involved extensive public consultation as part of an Environmental Assessment, as well as a complex approval process.

The result of our work was the reestablishment of a naturally meandering channel in a widened floodplain, correction of all existing erosion problems using soil bioengineering techniques to replace hardened bank structures, removal of the in-stream barrier, and installation of new pedestrian bridges.