Knox Scaling & Gabion Wall

In May of 2023, Cabin had the opportunity to oversee rockfall mitigation and to install a rockfall protection wall on Knox Mountain Park in Kelowna, BC. The mitigation and protective wall occurred on the Paul’s Tomb trail on the west side of Knox Mountain Park. During construction, signage alerting the public was placed at popular parking lots and trail intersections, and an online notice was released. The trail and adjacent shore were closed to the public, and protective fencing was installed to catch rock pried off the adjacent cliffside. Once the rock fall mitigation was completed, the fallen rock was then used to fill engineered gabion baskets to complete the wall that would protect the trail users from future rock falls. Additionally, danger trees above the trail were also removed to reduce future risk.

Project highlights included:

• Removal of loose rock above 100m of trail
• Reusing natural on-site rock to create the protective rock wall, and
• Installed two French drains on the existing trail to eliminate erosion

The protective rock wall is one of many projects that Cabin has completed in Knox Mountain Park which include wildfire mitigation, installation of fencing and guardrails, and trail maintenance. This protective wall will reduce rockfall hazards for daily users while simultaneously securing the integrity of the trail for emergency vehicle access. It was a challenging project that involved great teamwork between Cabin and Power Civil Contractors to allow future generations to enjoy another portion of Knox Mountain Park.