B.C.’s roads and highways took damage at 200 sites, provincial officials say, and the complex task of restoring some of the worst hit areas could take months.
Mike Farnworth, public safety minister, said the province isn’t out of the woods yet, with three more pulses of storms on the way.
“Road and maintenance contractors and crews with more than 250 pieces of heavy equipment are ready to go where they are needed,” he said during a press conference. “More than 350 culverts have been inspected and the Armed Forces are supporting any necessary repairs. We have work crews and boots on the ground.”
Rob Fleming, B.C. transportation minister, explained progress is being made but some of the most heavily damaged areas could take weeks to repair.
Highway 5, also known as the Coquihalla, sustained severe damage. The route connects the southern Trans-Canada route with the northern Trans-Canada/Yellowhead route, providing the shortest land connection between Vancouver and Edmonton.
Fleming said 20 parts of the highway were damaged or washed away, impacting 130 kilometres of the 543-kilometre route. These sites include five bridges that collapsed or took heavy damage.
“We have all seen the images,” said Fleming. “The highway was heavily damaged by the deluge of these historic rains. It is going to be a daunting task to get that highway back to being operational.”
Kelly Scott, president of the BC Roadbuilders and Heavy Construction Association, said the province and construction industry have be co-ordinating well during the challenging rebuild.
“We are in the middle of this rebuild program right as the teeth of winter are being thrown at us,” said Scott. “Those of us who have driven the Coquihalla in winter know what kind of snow will fly, but the contractors are there picking away.”
Scott explained while the industry has never seen so many incidents all at once, they have seen individual incidents of the same magnitude and are familiar with how to respond.
He stressed that above everything else, the goal is to get the work done safely, which means carefully assessing sites.
“As it was with COVID, this has brought the ministry and industry so close together as working partners to make the roads safer and the population safer,” said Scott.
More than 100 pieces of equipment are working around the clock to get the highway operational. Crews are blasting rock at three sites and mobilizing equipment to three other sites. Other crews have wrapped up clearing debris flows at two large sites.
At the Jessica Bridge near Merritt, crews are installing a temporary bridge while demolishing the old one that collapsed.
An access bridge for construction crews has been built near the Caroline Bridge, which also collapsed.
At the Brodie Bridge, crews are working to protect abutments. Crews are also working to rebuild lanes at four sites near the Murray Flats.
Meanwhile, in-river work is being done at many sites to halt erosion and channel water back underneath major spans.
“We are reasonably optimistic that enough temporary repairs can be completed to allow commercial traffic on the corridor in about two months time,” said Fleming. “But I do have to caution that weather will be a key factor and a key consideration if we will reach that target.”
He added once the Coquihalla does open, there will be two 20 to 30 kilometre sections where speeds will be reduced and only one lane of traffic will be allowed through each way.
“If there is something fortunate about the Coquihalla damage it’s that the areas that experience the most challenging winter conditions were not impacted and we will have the same road standard as before the storms,” said Fleming.
He noted the storms have created unprecedented damage to the province’s transportation infrastructure and applauded the road maintenance contractors and ministry workers conducting repairs.
“I can’t thank enough the crews who have been working flat out in the rain, in the weather, making immediate repairs to get people moving again,” said Fleming. “The stories of what those contractors have been able to accomplish working with ministry of transportation staff has been nothing short of incredible.”
Great to see a Progressive Ventures Construction crew of Terrace BC, hard at work helping put BC back together.
Crews are do outstanding work to make it possible for the world to open again in BC. Great to hear the Armed Forces is there. BZ troops! This is the training and work that 1.2 & 5 CER do around the world and can now help do it at home.