Terrace is home to McElhanney’s oldest branch outside BC’s Lower Mainland and, 52 years later, it is still going strong! Here’s a peek at the work our Terrace branch does and how employees give back to their local community.
A vibrant and growing city of about 18,000 people, Terrace has the largest regional population base in northwest BC and is the service, educational, medical, and transportation hub of the region. The approximately 30 staff in our Terrace branch enjoy world class fishing, golfing, back-country hiking and skiing, and cycling along city paths or mountain biking down steep terrain. They enjoy the largest year-round farmers market north of Kamloops and 10 days of Riverboat festivities in August.
Key Services:
- Civil and Structural Engineering
- Surveying (legal and engineering)
- Environmental services / Biology
- Geotechnical Engineering and Materials Testing
Recent Projects
Our Terrace team, in conjunction with our Smithers satellite office, works on a variety of projects. Some of the branch’s recent and notable projects include:
- Structural Engineering for Avalanche Mitigation. Our local branch worked with the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to design towers and foundations for five remote avalanche control systems.
- Upper Skeena Recreation Centre. We provided geotechnical and civil engineering, materials testing, and survey to the Kitimat Stikine Regional District for this new, wood laminated ice arena and gymnasium in Hazelton which opened in 2019.
- Skeena Floodplain Mapping and Values Assessment. Working for the Regional District, we mapped the floodplain in the Terrace region and identified key community values including recreational facilities, infrastructure, and fish habitat. The study was initially conceptualized in 2007 when flooding forced the District to put in erosion control dykes. The District realized that good inventory information would allow them to react more quickly and proactively. This was an interesting project as it integrated almost all aspects of our services.
- Anderson Creek Fish Ladder. To improve fish passage, we provided the biological input for the design of a fish ladder (see photo) for Ledcor, our design-build partners, who were working for LNGC.
This project was complex and required staff from four different offices, ultimately resulting in more than 100 coho bypassing the obstruction and a group of very happy clients.
Community Involvement
Our branch is proud to be involved in and support our local community where we work, live, and play. Most recently, branch staff participated in:
- designing a new mountain bike trail for the Terrace Off Road Cycling Association
- in-kind donation of design and construction inspection support for Terrace Area Emergency Services
- in-kind donation of drafting services to Thornhill Fire Department
- design and contract support for a Rotary Gazebo at our local elderly care facility
Staff Moments – Hear what some of our staff have to say about living and working in Terrace:
“The Terrace branch has been in operation for more than 50 years, so we are very well known and well respected here. Throughout that time, McElhanney has been heavily involved in building the community and supporting social initiatives. It is very rewarding to be a part of a workplace that is so well-integrated in the community.”
- Garrett Kerr, Project Biologist
“I was born and raised in Terrace and am now raising my own family here. Terrace offers world class outdoor recreational pursuits with all the amenities of a larger city. From a career perspective, engineers are involved in a diversity of work from large, complex projects, to local community pursuits, to interesting remote sites, and everything in between.”
- Jonathan Lambert, Structural Engineer
“Terrace is an outdoor recreation hot spot with ample industry to support a steady workforce. Our small community is full of active volunteers and has just enough amenities to say you don’t need anymore.”
- Tristan McMullan, Civil Engineer
Click here to contact our Terrace office.
