Over the years, the Boundary Ridge Stairs have required extensive repairs to keep the structure operational. But after 30 years in a saltwater environment, even treated wood and good intentions reach the end of their useful lives. In 2020, $10,000 was spent for outside contractor repairs and in 2022, SRA spent 40-man hours of labor and about $2,000 in materials to replace rotten treads, stringers, blocking and bracing. This, however, only delayed the inevitable. Wood rot does not progress linearly; the deterioration after a certain amount of time becomes exponential and the stairs have reached that point.
After making repairs last year, the SRA Director of Maintenance recommended to the SRA Maintenance Committee that an inspection of the stairway should be performed by a qualified engineer, given the amount of deterioration found during the repairs in 2022, and the lack of in-house expertise to make a qualified judgement of the structure’s integrity.
At the February 2023 Maintenance Committee meeting, the Committee recommended that SRA commission a report from a qualified structural engineer to evaluate the stair structure. The full report is linked below. The report summary is sobering. The recommendation is that the structure should be closed immediately. The Maintenance Committee reviewed the report last week at their meeting and discussed possible options for keeping the structure open, but the amount of time and materials required to make significant structural improvements would not be economically feasible. The idiom “good money after bad” best describes the Committee’s opinion of trying to make repairs extensive enough to produce a different conclusion in a structural engineering report. The Committee’s recommendation is to close the stairs as soon as possible. A full replacement of the structure is estimated to be $250,000 to $400,000.
Given the unambiguous conclusion in the engineering report, the SRA is regretfully closing the stairway immediately in the interest of member and public safety.
We understand this may not be a popular decision with some members of the community and we do not make it lightly, but our first duty is the safety of our residents. We will keep all members appraised of any developments and future decisions regarding the Boundary Ridge Stairs.
Respectfully,
David Franklin, General Manager
Semiahmoo Resort Association
