WATCH: What are these V’s doing at Hot Sands Beach?

• V-logs, rocks, and trees
• Assist with sand erosion
• Bioengineering technique

A new and improved shoreline at City Park is ready for beachgoers, and just in time for the late and dramatic increase in local water levels.

Since February, construction has been underway in the area to make a wider pathway, as well as adding new features on the beach such as landscaping and multiple structures near the water.

“It’s bioengineering… we’ve added a v-log structure, topsoil, an erosion mat, and rocks on top,” Todd DeGruchy, Senior Project Manager for the City told Kelowna10. “It’s just preserving the sand that’s on the beach.”

The logs are anchored in the water and have been placed at the lake’s highwater mark to help reduce erosion.

Inside each rock structure are newly planted willow trees. The hope is that over the years, the tree roots will serve as a natural way to prevent erosion, especially at the north end which has experienced significant beach loss through the years resulting in elevation change.

DeGruchy said the reason the logs are in a V-shape is to deflect energy from waves that come in from both the north and south.

“The wind actually takes the sand out and it gets dropped into the lake,” he explained. “This is hopefully going to maintain the natural environment for years to come.”

Hot Sands Beach and the pathway at City Park were scheduled to open Friday.

For more information on the promenade project, click here.