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Recycled steel earns Cultus Lake slide a silver award

The materials came from a California water park that had closed down in 2006 and were trucked to Cultus Lake.
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This slide called Tubular Terror at Cultus Lake Water Park was awarded a VRCA prize for sustainability since it was built with recycled elements from a closed-down water park in California.

A Cultus Lake Water Park slide project was recognized for environmental leadership by the Vancouver Regional Construction Association.

The Tubular Terror slide earned a Silver Award of Excellence from the VRCA for Sustainable Construction.

Water park contractors, Solid Rock Steel, made the list of award finalists for their use of refurbished steel and fibreglass materials, that came from a closed-down water park.

Criteria for award winners ranged from construction projects that were on-time and on-budget, to impressive safety records and innovative engineering, said VRCA president Jan Robinson.

"In this case the design of the slide was quite intricate, and they had zero lost time over accidents," she said.

Cultus Lake Water Park owner Chris Steunenberg was stoked by the news of the silver award.

"It feels great to be a winner, and to be recognized for trying to do something for the environment," he said.

The recycled materials came from a California water park that had closed down in 2006. They had the slide disassembled and the steel and fibreglass pieces were trucked to Cultus Lake, and rebuilt along with a new tower for the Tubular Terror slide.

"So instead of those materials going into the landfill, we were able to turn them around and use them effectively."

The water park attraction at Cultus now features three tube slides heading into one pool, including one offering a completely covered 'black hole' experience.

The steel was imported into Canada, sanded down to bare metal and galvanized for use in the slide project. The fibreglass was sanded right down to the membrane before being recoated.

Part of the rationale for the project's reuse of materials was environmental, but the recycled part of it makes the project more financially feasible, too, Steunenberg said.

"We've got more slides and attractions than anybody. We have to do it in a unique way."

In this year’s competition, there were 42 total entrants and 38 projects considered. Over the 25 years the competition has been in place, the value of the projects has grown tremendously, and the total value of projects considered in this year’s competition represented $1.1 billion of construction throughout B.C.

“The judges were extremely impressed with the high quality of the projects nominated this year,” says Tony Everett, chair of the awards adjudication committee. “All the Silver Award winners are true leaders in the industry, and we are proud to honour them at this year’s milestone event.”

One Silver Award winner from each category will be chosen as the Gold Award winner during the 25th Annual VRCA Awards of Excellence gala dinner on October 17, 2013 at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

jfeinberg@theprogress.com

Twitter.com/chwkjourno



Jennifer Feinberg

About the Author: Jennifer Feinberg

I have been a Chilliwack Progress reporter for 20+ years, covering the arts, city hall, as well as Indigenous, and climate change stories.
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