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Here and there I saw how they are trying to meet the geotechnical concerns associated with the site. A lot of the current activity entails drainage and/or removal of the unstable river banks.

My attention was drawn to a surveyor’s theodolite set alongside the road leading down to the temporary bridge linking the two sides of the river. The instrument has to be checked regularly because the road is slumping and may have to be shored up with pilings sooner or later.

The bridge itself provides another study in the burgeoning activity on the site. There’s already so much traffic back and forth the river that it may have to be twinned to keep things on schedule.

My biggest laugh of the day came when we paused for a look at the sewage treatment plant. Yes, Site C has one, unlike my morally-superior hometown of Victoria, which tends to look down at such vulgar undertakings as hydroelectric dams, oil pipelines and the like.

After several hours of this, I remarked to manager Peever that the sheer complexity of the project seemed overwhelming. He said the construction schedule was broken down into 5,500 distinct steps, many of which had to be completed in precise sequence.

At the end of the day he took me to his office where the various elements of the project were laid out on a master chart on the wall, like the construction site equivalent of the big board for a military invasion.

One date that stood out on the time line was Sept. 1, 2019, when they expect to begin diverting the river through the tunnels to allow construction of the dam itself. Three years later, on Sept. 9, 2022, the schedule calls for them to begin filing the reservoir. Not, mind you “ fall 2022” nor even September of that year. Rather 09/09/22.