110-year-old retaining wall near Ottawa Rowing Club to be demolished, replaced
The National Capital Commission is in the early stages of completely replacing the retaining wall on Lady Grey Drive, which is parallel to Sussex Drive near the shore of the Ottawa River, to ensure its structural integrity.
The wall — built between 1911 and 1913 — supports the roadway above, which the commission (NCC) wants to transform into a pedestrian-friendly, multi-use "promenade," according to a presentation at a meeting of the NCC's board Thursday.
The NCC said a geotechnical study found the best way forward was to completely replace the 600 metre-long wall —part of the wall partially collapsed in 2020 — something described as a "formidable engineering challenge."
The Ottawa Rowing Club, which sits just below Lady Grey Drive along the river shoreline, said the work will affect their next two seasons, but they hope to ultimately benefit from the road's revitalization.
"We'll make it work," said club president Peter Thompson. "The members are used to facing challenges at the shoreline, whether it's wind or waves or traffic or congestion on the docks at five o'clock in the morning. They're a pretty resilient group."
On any given spring day, there could be 100 rowers pushing off from the docks at the club. That number can double in the fall, so there will still be traffic along the road.
Thompson said the NCC, along with the city and federal government, has been working with the club on the project.
"We have a commitment on the part of all three parties to keep a traffic lane open," he said. "So far, it's been a workable arrangement."
Public consultations are underway and the NCC said it has been working with local stakeholders to ensure disruptions are kept to a minimum during the construction phase.
In 2010, the federal government gave the NCC $1.5 million for work on "rehabilitation of a highly deteriorated dry limestone retaining wall."
That project was one of eight that were mentioned at the board's meeting Thursday.
