Bridge Over Flooded Water

Written by Peter McIntyre 107.5 KISSFM  Tuesday, 27 August 2013 12:33 
The BC government has given the green light to upgrades to prevent flooding on part of Highway 97A south of Sicamous. Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo says 3 million dollars will be spent to design and construct a concrete bridge over Hummingbird Creek to protect the highway during times of high creek flows. The bridge, which will be built in 2014, will replace a culvert that was one cause of extensive damage in the Swansea Point area during a flash flood in June 2012. Additional work this fall will remove some of the gravel bed load from the creek near the outlet to Mara Lake, and strengthen 120 metres of creek bank adjacent to the Hummingbird Beach Resort. This builds on the $565,000 worth of stream repair work completed in March. Following flood damage to the highway in June 2012, which forced its closure for a day, Golder and Associates was commissioned by the province to design creek repairs to restore the channel to its pre-2012 event condition. The engineering firm also assessed the existing highway culvert capacity and in a report released today, it says the  culvert does not meet the Ministry of Transportation's requirements for flow capacity. "The ministry is remedying the situation by installing a new bridge that will span the stream," states a Ministry news release. Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Todd Stone says, "The construction of a new bridge on Highway 97A, along with the channel repair work at Hummingbird Creek undertaken this year, will help keep this important highway through the Shuswap open."