MacKay Contracting was awarded the HB Dam Remediation Project by the Regional District of Central Kootenays.
This project moves the facility closer to passive closure by eliminating ponded water behind the dam, by increasing the dam’s stability. This added permanence containing the tailings to prevent transport.
Work will include:
- Developing a new spillway and eliminating the pond behind the dam.
- Covering the entire tailings area with 0.3-metre thick earthen cover.
- Creating lined surface water conveyance channels to direct water over the tailings area.
- Constructing a till beach upstream of the dam, and raising the dam’s filter layer.
- Expanding the toe berm at the bottom of the dam to improve seismic stability.
The HB Dam was initially constructed by Teck Cominco (Teck) to retain and store tailings from the nearby HB Mine, which Teck operated intermittently from 1955 to 1978.
This site will be closed to public for safety concerns.
