Port Metro Vancouver’s 2008 Economic Impact Study suggested that goods movement on the Lower Fraser River contributed about a billion dollars each year to the provincial GDP at that time.  Activity in Surrey alone was valued a $440 million.  Over the years, there have been numerous proposals to expand river transportation as an alternative to rail and trucking.

Most of the current shipping activity takes place between the Port Mann Bridge and the ocean, but even at the eastern edge of Metro Vancouver we see and hear frequent tugboats hauling logs, sand and gravel, or odd cargoes such as uprooted houses. Continue reading →