Innovation - Spring 2024

INNOVATION SPRING 2024 | volume 28 number 1

VIEWPOINT

Housing demand challenges professionals Recently, I was showing our son, who is a carpenter, what a waterproof notebook looks like. On one of the first pages, labelled Marathon Coal Harbour, October 2, 1992, was a list of observation water wells, their water depth, and the time of day.

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BOARD 2023/2024 C hair : M ichelle M ahovlich , ME ng , P.E ng ., P.G eo ., FCSSE V ice C hair : M ark P orter , P.E ng ., S truct .E ng . I mmediate P ast C hair : M ark A dams , P.E ng . BOARD MEMBERS B ill C han , CPA, CGA, MBA, ICD.D; L eslie H ildebrandt , ICD.D, LLB; V eronica K nott , P.E ng .; E mily L ewis , CPA, CMA; K aren L ing , P.E ng .; C athy M c I ntyre , MBA, C.D ir ; M ahsoo N aderi -D asoar , P.E ng .; M atthew S almon , P.E ng .; J ens W eber , P.E ng . EXECUTIVE TEAM H eidi Y ang , P.E ng ., FEC, FGC (H on .), C hief E xecutive O fficer L iza A boud , MBA, ABC, ICD.D, C hief O perating O fficer J ennifer C ho , CPA, CGA, C hief F inancial and A dministrative O fficer D avid P avan , R.PH., C hief R egulatory O fficer and R egistrar EDITORIAL ADVISORY GROUP Ryan Bird, P.Eng.; Allen Heinrichs, P.Eng.; Mahsa Mohajerani, P.Eng.; Roozbeh Nemati, PMP, P.Eng.; Raya Smertina, P.Eng.; Aman Tanvir, P.Eng.; Stefano Vitucci, P.Eng. Innovation is published quarterly by Engineers and Geoscientists BC. As the official publication of the organization, Innovation is circulated to all registrants of Engineers and Geoscientists BC as well as architects, contractors and industry executives. The views expressed in any article do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the Board or Engineers and Geoscientists BC. Sales Representative: Wing-Yee Kwong Tel: 604.681.1811 Email: advertising@egbc.ca For information see: www.egbc.ca/About/Publications/Innovation/How-to-Advertise SUBMISSIONS Innovation does not accept unsolicited articles or photos, but we do welcome article proposals and ideas. Proposals should be of interest and relevant to our readers and recognize the regulatory role of Engineers and Geoscientists BC in ensuring public safety and environmental protection. They should not be a "sales pitch" for a company or organization. Send suggestions to: innovation@egbc.ca. LETTERS Innovation welcomes letters from our readers. All submitted letters may be subject to editing for length, clarity or accuracy. We reserve the right to reject unsuitable letters and we do not publish open letters to third parties. Send letters to: innovation@egbc.ca REPRINTS & COPIES All material is copyright. For reprint permission or extra copies, contact: innovation@egbc.ca SUBSCRIPTIONS All registrants with Engineers and Geoscientists BC receive Innovation in print or digital form. Registrants can update their communication preferences for Innovation in their accounts at egbc.ca/account. Send print or digital subscription requests to: innovation@egbc.ca. MANAGING EDITOR Shelley Nicholl Printed in Canada by Mitchell Press Ltd. on recycled paper ADVERTISING SALES

I had just moved to BC from Ontario in April 1992. The company I worked for had an office in the Marine Building on Burrard Street, overlooking the then-undeveloped area of Coal Harbour. One of my first big jobs was to undertake a contaminated site assessment of the proposed development area. Our firm drilled hundreds of boreholes in support of the redevelopment of Coal Harbour, at that time being developed by Marathon Realty. Fast forward 30 years and Coal Harbour is a beautiful, thriving community on the waterfront. It took many years, decades even, to develop that community. Today, we are in a housing crisis and need to construct hundreds of dwellings and services to support our collective communities rapidly— not over several decades. Geoscientists and engineers together are going to be challenged now and in the coming years to develop creative ways to economically provide infrastructure (water, sewer, roads, hospitals, recreation centres, etc.) to support this housing while still making those homes affordable. We will need to support municipalities and developers alike. The easy-to-develop areas have been built out. Those were the flattest lands, the easiest soils, and the serviced lots. We now move into areas of challenging terrain, ground conditions such as bedrock and peat, high-water tables and/or undersized or no services. There will be times when we have exhausted all options and will have to just say that the land is not economically viable for development. As registered professionals, safety is paramount. Now more than ever it will be important to share ideas between professionals to support the province and our municipalities so that we can all enjoy a safe place to live.

Michelle Mahovlich, MEng, P.Eng., P.Geo., FCSSE info@egbc.ca

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Spring 2024

Innovation