BANFF – An old and unused pump station building under the Bow River Bridge will be demolished because it is falling apart and asbestos was discovered.
Town council has authorized administration spend $250,000 on the necessary work, including $35,000 for landscaping.
“It sounds like there is some urgency to this project and a need to proceed,” said Councillor Chip Olver during the Aug. 10 council meeting.
The water pump station building is not part of the original construction of the historic Bow River Bridge. It’s located adjacent to the abutment in the pedestrian underpass on the north side of the bridge.
In August 2019, while carrying out stone masonry repairs, staff discovered cracks in the cinder block wall of the building, prompting the Town to contact ISL Engineering.
The company discovered the building was structurally questionable and also recommended a hazardous material company be hired to test a pile of unknown material near the doorway.
Town of Banff officials say testing was completed promptly. Exposure to asbestos causes cancers and other diseases.
“The material has been confirmed to contain asbestos,” said Stephen Allan, engineering coordinator for the Town of Banff. “Access to the building has been restricted. Abatement is required prior to demolition.”
More damage to the pump building cinder block wall occurred last December. During the extreme cold weather around Christmas, a leak developed in one of the ball valves that isolates the irrigation line that taps off the water main.
“Water flooded the building to a depth of approximately one foot,” Allen said. “Water migrated through the cracks in the cinder block wall before re-freezing. This is likely to have caused more damage to the wall.”
Councillor Ted Christensen, who was the only councillor to vote against the demolition work, said the cost to do the work was high given the uncertainty around the municipality’s budget during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It just seems like an awful lot of money,” he said.
“What if it was done in segments? Removing the asbestos and then waiting until there’s more certainty in the budget to proceed with the actual demolition?”
Allen said ISL visited the site last week and advised the situation is becoming more timely, noting the proposal for demolition initially intended to go before council in spring before - but then COVID-19 struck.
He said the removal of asbestos from the building will require punching holes in cinder blocks, which will further weaken the structure, and any solution to attempt to delay demolition comes with significant risk and no guarantee of success.
“Yes, it’s a large amount of money, but the sequence is not asbestos first,” Allen said. “The process of removing asbestos would involve punching more holes in the cinder block wall and further compromise the structure of the building.”
