The massive barge that washed up against a seawall in Vancouver'e West End during a windstorm last November will soon be a piece of history.

Many pieces of history, in fact.

In a February 9 information bulletin, the city announced that the barge that became the backdrop for thousands of Sunset Beach selfies will undergo a process of "deconstruction and removal".

The city said local company Vancouver Pile Driving Ltd. (VanPile) has been contracted to disassemble the barge "following a detailed structural assessment" that determined it was not possible to refloat the grounded vessel.

After the Novenber 15 storm and grounding, when the barge was pushed onto rocks by the entrance to False Creek from English Bay, where it had been moored, tug boats and a barge crane failed to budge the 5,500-tonne barge.

The city said in the bulletin that the project is expected to take 12 to 15 weeks and that VanPile will "be supported by a variety of government agencies including Fisheries and Oceans Canada [FOC], the Canadian Coast Guard, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the City of Vancouver, and the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation".

Environmental considerations for the sensitive marine habitat in which the vessel rests have been taken into account after input from FOC, the city noted, and "archeological and structural assessments are underway by VanPile as part of the preparation for the barge’s removal".

The area around the barge will be fenced off as a work site, with signage advising seawall walkers of detours.