Lulu Island
Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Fraser River |
Coordinates | 49°10′05″N 123°04′50″W / 49.16806°N 123.08056°W |
Area | 122.4 km2 (47.3 sq mi) |
Administration | |
Canada | |
Province | British Columbia |
City | City of Richmond |
City | New Westminster (Queensborough neighbourhood) |
Demographics | |
Population | 206,216[1] (2016) |
Lulu Island is the name of the largest island in the estuary of the Fraser River, located south of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and the second-most populous island in British Columbia, after Vancouver Island. The city of Richmond occupies most of the island, while a small section at the eastern tip, known as Queensborough, is part of the city of New Westminster.
Lulu Island is situated between the two principal arms of the
History
Lulu Island was named in 1862 by
The island enjoyed good connections to the new port city of Vancouver thanks to the Lulu Island & Steveston Railway line of the British Columbia Electric Railway, which began at what is today the north end of the Granville Street Bridge. The route of the Lulu Island Railway became known as the Arbutus Corridor, which runs west through Kitsilano before turning south to Kerrisdale and Marpole before crossing the north arm of the Fraser to reach Lulu Island and the City of Richmond. The Eburne swing bridge was removed in 2015, leaving remaining railroad tracks on the Richmond side of the river orphaned. The Arbutus Corridor tracks were removed in 2016 to create a greenway for cyclists and pedestrians.
The southwestern corner of Lulu Island is home to
Geohazards
Because the island is composed partly of glacial silt brought down by the Fraser River, there is a fear of liquefaction of its sands if a tremor with sufficient intensity were to shake it. In such an eventuality, it is anticipated that localized areas, specifically in the vicinity of the present-day mouth of the Fraser River, could experience seismic liquefaction failure and collapse westward into the Strait of Georgia, potentially impacting the adjacent river entrainment works and possibly some navigational aids. Additionally, statically-triggered liquefaction failures have been documented in this area, highlighting the extremely loose localized soil conditions, as well as the high potential for associated slope instability and mass wasting.[7]
The island is also fully
References
- ^ Population calculated by adding the population of Richmond (198,303) and Queensborough, New Westminster (8,727) and removing the population of Sea Island (814)
- OCLC 16729415.
- ^ BCGNIS listing "Lulu Island"
- ISBN 0-7748-0636-2
- ISBN 9781553834366.
- ^ says, Gary Jackson (2017-12-05). "How Lulu Island Got Its Sweet Name". Scout Magazine. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
- .