Vancouver seawall section closes temporarily due to landslide

The Stanley Park Seawall will be closed between the Third and Second beaches from Monday, Nov. 27 until Friday, Dec. 1.

The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation posted about the closure on X Sunday, citing slope remediation work as the reason for the closure.

It says following a landslide near Ferguson Point, heavy machinery will need to be operating in the area this week.

“Seawall users are asked to follow site signage and observe detours,” the parks board states.

Both beaches will remain open and can be accessed via the parking lots.

Climate change, changes in weather patterns haven’t been kind to the seawall

Geological engineer Erik Eberhardt says climate change is contributing to a rise in sea levels, which can lead to more waves crashing down on the seawall and damaging it. As he explains, the change in weather patterns can also increase erosion around the seawall.

“If that frequency starts increasing and you get more yearly storms … it accelerates that process,” he said. “Wave action can contribute to a landslide. On a weak slope, it undermines it — so it erodes away at the toe. The toe is what is helping to hold the slope up – once it’s undermined it will collapse.”

Eberhardt says there are engineering solutions that could protect the seawall from weather damage, but those come with a hefty price tag. Among those solutions is rebuilding the seawall at a higher elevation.

“You can build barriers in front, you can build anchoring behind,” he said.

“We often talk about protection versus prevention … in some cases, if you try to prevent that slope from failing, you can use things like anchoring to hold back that material.”

Vancouver’s seawall is 28 kilometres long, running around Stanley Park, down False Creek, and back up Kitsilano. The park board says people visiting Stanley Park should expect closures every year in the future as it conducts maintenance to protect the seawall.