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BGC Engineering Inc. and McElhanney have won a 2025 Award of Excellence from Association of Consulting Engineering Companies British Columbia (ACEC-BC) for their restorative work on the Othello Road – Location C project in Hope, B.C.

The companies won in the .

The project is located five kilometres northeast of Hope and 150 kilometres east of Vancouver. The owner is the BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit (MOTI).

The work was necessitated by a fierce winter storm, what is euphemistically called “an atmospheric river event,” that struck southwestern B.C. and northwestern ��

November storms occur every year in the region, but the 2021 version was especially serious, causing extensive damage. Flooding and washouts occurred at more than 20 sites along 130 kilometres of Highway 5 (Coquihalla Highway) between Hope and Merritt.

The Coquihalla is an important north-south highway in the B.C. Interior. The damage caused by the storm led the province to close it to regular vehicle traffic in mid-November and not reopen it to all traffic until two months later.

The heavy rains filled the Coquihalla River, causing it to erode 550 metres of its right bank. The river shifted its course 125 metres north and adjacent to Othello Road, leaving that section exposed to further risk of erosion.   

Evan Shih, BGC Engineering senior hydrotechnical engineer, says the floodplain of the river had narrowed over the years because of road development in the area.��

BGC Engineering and McElhanney were retained by MOTI to provide engineering and environmental design to stabilize the road embankment and to improve the long-term resiliency of the road against future floods.  

Their approach to stabilizing the Othello Road embankment involved some innovative engineering solutions.

McElhanney transportation engineer Nick Guaran says the work also required continuous engagement with the regulatory agencies, especially Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).

“Because the Coquihalla is a fish-bearing river, we worked closely with the DFO on the project,” says Guaran.

The engineers developed a 2D hydraulic model that simulated hydraulic conditions, assessed the various mitigation options and estimated design parameters.

After evaluating several different options, they took an outside-the-box approach to mitigating scour and erosion of the Othello Road embankments adjacent to the river, which included adding some environmental touches. 

Guaran says a typical approach in this situation would be to place riprap along the embankment to absorb the energy of the river and protect the roadway.

“However, it is expensive,” says Guraan. “In addition, in our case we also had a short window during which we could work in the riverbed and the DFO doesn’t like putting riprap into a river.”

So the engineers took another approach.

To begin, they dug a temporary channel to divert the river for 500 metres, which allowed construction to take place during the six-week period when the river was dry and when local wildlife wouldn’t be disrupted.

They constructed four groynes about 90 metres apart that extend approximately 25 metres into the Coquihalla River. The groynes deflect high-velocity river flows away from the embankment and near the road.

The groynes also help to create low velocity zones on their backsides by gathering up and combining large woody debris with root wads, boulder clusters and log jams, which provide rearing and potential spawning habitat for the aquatic wildlife. 

The empty spaces in the riprap were filled with excavated structural soil and topsoil in order to support re-vegetation efforts, which included native planting, live staking and seeding.

The soil mix was designed to resist washout during high-flow periods, providing a stable environment for plant growth, aid in-bank stabilization, and water quality for fish. 

The project planted more than 5,000 native trees and shrubs over 0.4 ha, delivering a net environmental gain.  

McElhanney acted as the project manager, roadway and civil designer and environmental lead.

“We’re very pleased and proud to have been recognized,” says Guaran. “It was a real team effort with some unconventional approaches and a testament to the good work we did.”

BGC Engineering took care of the hydrotechnical analysis, modelling and design recommendations.

“I’m proud of our team on the project,” says Shih. “It’s nice to receive recognition from your engineering peers.”

For more information on the 2025 ACEC-BC Awards of Excellence, go to