After the destruction of two trestle bridges in the recent Wesley Ridge wildfire, the Island Corridor Foundation will assess the damage and determine what it will take to clean up the site.
ICF cannot yet say what the extent of the damage is to two other trestle bridges affected by the fire, according to CEO Thomas Bevan, as they have not had a chance to go to the site yet.
Before the fire, it would have been a relatively simple project of clearing vegetation and deck replacement to set up a high rail bus and use sections of the existing line for emergency purposes or tourism, according to Bevan.
“It’s a real setback. We had just had an inspection of them done by a professional consultant team to get high rail bus level of certification on them, and what would have to be done,” Bevan said. "The structures themselves were pretty much good for a 10-ton truck and now there’s nothing left, so it really changes the picture there.”
High rail buses, which Bevan described as “school bus with a lift kit” have been put to good use on Seton Lake First Nation, near Lillooet, as the main way students get to high school, as well as other important trips like doctor appointments.
The loss of the trestles, which were built in the 1970s, makes it more difficult to set up a similar system in the Island Corridor and it's still too early to say if they will be replaced. The book value of the two structures was between $20 and $30 million, according to Bevan.
There will need to be a "business case" for that, Bevan said, and it's up to the member First Nations and regional districts.
The next steps are to hire a professional environmental consultant and a geo-technical consultant to fill in the ICF on the extent of the damage and what needs to be done with the debris. The slopes in the area are “highly unstable”, Bevan said, so the area will be secured to prevent further degradation.
“The main message to the public is you still need to stay out of there. It’s very dangerous and we have not been back there ourselves, so we can’t say the extent of the damage," he said.
One benefit of the corridor is its use as a fire break, including during the fight against the Wesley Ridge wildfire this August, which prevented the blaze from reaching the highway and campground, Bevan said.
“The fire personnel who were on the site at Chalet Road used the corridor for firefighting. They deployed all of their pumps and hoses and the fire stopped at the corridor where it was accessible," he said.
Bevan recently travelled to Hamilton, along with representatives from CN, CP and Alto, a planned privately-operated high-speed rail network, for a meeting with transport minister Chrystia Freeland.
“I think we’re really at an important inflection point and it’s all about the members’ directions. The federal government is engaging on this topic and that’s why we went to Hamilton,” Bevan said. “There is value in this corridor that is available, so whether or not our members want to pursue that is still, we’re still underway with that.”
