ENG-TECH Consulting Limited (ENG-TECH) Provided geotechnical engineering and construction management services for the design and placement of gabion baskets at a remote location on Sipiwesk Lake, Manitoba in order to protect a First Nation’s Burial Site located at the top of the bank. The gabion baskets were cable tied together and anchored to the existing bedrock. The baskets were in-filled with rock collected along the nearby shorelines and transported to the Site via boat.
ENG-TECH provided geotechnical investigation, design, and construction management services for the Red Rock Lake project that involved the preservation of a historic First Nations burial site in an extremely remote setting. The burial site was in danger from slope failure caused by the erosion of the banks. ENG-TECH’s services involved not only technical investigation and design, but also consultation with the First Nation communities affected, incorporating cultural concerns into the design and construction, and working closely with archeologists involved at the site. Local First Nations groups participated significantly in the remediation portion of the project that involved the selection, transportation and placement of native rocks in gabion baskets that were anchored in bedrock. All construction material was ferried several miles to the site in boats. In addition to technical supervision, ENG-TECH provided Workplace Safety supervision of a difficult and potentially hazardous work situation. The culmination of the project was the protection of the approximately one-hundred-year-old graves, and making the burial grounds highly visible for communities and a focal point for local cultural heritage.