After touring the washout at Highway 903 at Cole Bay, northern MLA Buckley Belanger believes that a bridge will need to be built, rather than current provincial government plan of four culverts which are nine feet in diameter.
“I think that the culvert option is a stop gap measure. Yeah it could result in the road being used sooner. But from my own viewpoint I think they’ve got to build a bridge there and make sure this never happens again,” Belanger said.
Belanger was on site Saturday and described the hole as being 100 yards long and up to 90 feet deep.
He says residents are devastated, forcing motorists to add as much as 90 minutes to their driving time due to having to use alternate routes.
Yet, some residents are being innovative in getting supplies back and forth.
“People are now travelling up to that particular site and they’re canoeing across, picking up some supplies and things from the opposite side and canoeing back. That’s how some people are improvising during this huge washout.
“We will be replacing the old culvert with four 2.7 meter culverts. So, that’s like four culverts that are nine feet in diameter,” Doug Wakabayashi, Executive Director of Communications for the Ministry said. “That should increase the capacity there and reduce the risk of future washouts at that location.”
Wakabayashi described the repairs as complex, given the additional culverts and 15 to 18 meters deep. It is expected the culverts may take two-to-three weeks for delivery, giving the department time to tender the project and find a contractor.
Wakabayashi says there is no estimated timeframe on when the repairs will be complete. Heavy rains caused the washout July 31.
(Photo: Highway 903 washout. Courtesy of Shawna Gardiner Facebook.)