The workers in this photo taken in October 2010 are retrofitting the sails at Canada Place in Vancouver’s downtown waterfront area. The process employed is fascinating. There is great danger of sections of sail blowing away if there are great gaps created during dismantling. Therefore the new sails are built within the old sails like a tent within a tent with workers hoisting it into place, section by section. There are 27 panels, each weighing as much as an SUV. Once each new inside panel is hoisted into place, the corresponding outside section is peeled away layer by layer and carefully lowered down, each layer weighing hundreds of pounds. The technicians need to have climbing as well as construction skills. They are scaling a near vertical slippery slope and end up dangling seven storeys above the ground. Tragically, there was one death when a worker hadn’t tied off his safety harness.

The new sails have 91,210 square feet of fabric with higher quality teflon-coated fibreglass which will last 30 years and be self-cleaning. The old sail sections will be recycled. The sails were first constructed around 1984, roofing the Canada Pavilion for Expo’86. They were constructed by Birdair, the same company doing the retrofit. At the time it was the largest tension roof system of its kind in the world. The retrofit is now finished in time to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Expo’86 and the 125th anniversary of Vancouver.

Canada Place with its unique iconic sails is the most photographed structure in all of Canada. It served as the backdrop for every major network during the Winter Olympics. It’s a centre for culture, tourism and economic activity generating 1 billion dollars annually to the local economy.