PROJECT

BC Hydro – Site C

Area 24 & Area E  Earthworks, Access & Material Handling

Project Details

CLIENT

BC Hydro 

PRIME CONTRACTOR

Halfway River Frost LP 

LOCATION

Site C – Fort St. John, BC 

CONTRACT

Area 24 (Parcel 93/94) & Area E Clear Grub and Stockpile 

DURATION

2022 – 2023 

Project Overview

Halfway River Frost LP delivered earthworks, berm construction, access improvements, and material handling across Area 24 (Parcels 93/94) and Area E within BC Hydro’s Site C Clean Energy Project. 

As Prime Contractor, HRFL coordinated pit preparation, overburden stockpiling, road and drainage work, and aggregate-transfer operations, supported by survey, field quality control, and environmental management. 

The civil scope combined pit and access-corridor preparation with soil handling, stockpile development, drainage, aggregate transport, and environmental controls. 

Earthworks & Site Development 

  • Enabling vegetation clearing, grubbing, and mechanical stripping 
  • Pit and access-corridor preparation, including additional stripping 
  • Loading, hauling, stockpiling, and shaping of overburden and topsoil 
  • Area E berm formation, compaction, and seeding 
  • Area 24 granular test-pit support, haul access, and laydown development 

Access, Material Handling & Quality 

  • Access-road construction, improvements, maintenance, and drainage 
  • Ditching, water bars, and roadside berms 
  • Aggregate-transfer laydown development, stockpiling, and reloading 
  • 50 mm aggregate hauling to Voith and back-hauling from Area 24 
  • Field inspections, survey, as-built records, and environmental management 

HRFL stripped the pit and access work areas and hauled overburden and topsoil to the designated stockpile berm. The Area E pit mechanical-stripping item covered 24.9 hectares, with an additional 48,903.45 m³ recorded as a separate stripping adjustment in Change Order 003. 

Allnorth’s May 1, 2022 survey recorded 116,290 m³ of fill in Berm E. The berm was designed to form a sound and visual barrier to the nearby grouse lek. Change Order 003 subsequently records completion of berm shaping, compaction, and seeding. 

Area 24 work combined stripping and material stockpiling with granular test-pit support, haul access, and laydown development. Field records document BC Hydro’s approval of additional stockpile space, along with temporary trail improvements for rock trucks working in wetter ground. 

Allnorth’s Area 24 volume drawing records three stockpiles totalling 83,998 m³. The individual surveyed volumes of 31,845 m³, 4,244 m³, and 47,909 m³ demonstrate the scale of material storage and handling across the site. 

The Area E access program combined corridor preparation with road construction, repairs, and drainage improvements. Field crews installed ditching, water bars, and switchback berms while maintaining access for earthmoving and hauling operations. 

Frost Road as-built drawings record an approximately 7.8-kilometre alignment, a 132,669 m² work area, and 23,332 m³ in stripping berms. The records capture the access corridor and associated earthworks, including roadside stripping and berm development.

HRFL developed a two-stage transfer arrangement for 50 mm crushed aggregate from Area E. Rock trucks moved material from the pit to a plateau stockpile, where it was reloaded into highway-legal trucks for delivery to the new Voith laydown. Return hauls from Area 24 supported access construction near Gate C. 

The scope combined transfer-site development, stockpile management, truck loading, and coordinated deliveries. Tangle Ridge Custom Crushing supplied the aggregate and loaded the pit-haul trucks, while HRFL managed onward transfer and delivery. 

The project-specific Quality Management Plan established requirements for preparatory, follow-up, and completion inspections, deficiency tracking, red-line drawings, and quality records. 

Weekly QC reports tracked stripping limits, stockpile locations, access conditions, and berm shaping as construction progressed. Survey and record drawings captured road profiles, work areas, and stockpile volumes, supporting review of the civil work and changes to site conditions and work limits. 

Environmental requirements were integrated with pit development and access work, including defined work boundaries, erosion and sediment controls, berm seeding, and restoration measures. DWB provided qualified wildlife guidance, and its follow-up assessment records six accepted fisher rest piles along the Area E access road. 

As Prime Contractor, Halfway River Frost LP coordinated field operations, hauling interfaces, safety, environmental management, quality requirements, and project submittals across the two work areas. The work required coordination with BC Hydro, environmental and survey professionals, and other contractors involved in material supply and placement. 

The Area 24 & Area E project demonstrates Frost Group’s ability to combine large-scale earthworks, berm construction, access improvements, and aggregate handling under one coordinated civil contract. Experienced field supervision, heavy-equipment operations, survey, and quality documentation supported complex material movement within BC Hydro’s Site C development. 

Key Project Highlights

116,290 M³

Area E Berm Surveyed Fill

83,998 M³

Area 24 Stockpiles Combined Survey Volume

23,332 M³

Access-Road Berms Surveyed Stripping Volume

7.8 KM

Area E Access Corridor As-Built Alignment

24.9 HA

Area E Pit Mechanical Stripping