The collapsed Voght Street Bridge in Merritt. (Photo via Greg Lowis)

The BC Government says work to replace the Middlesboro Bridge in Merritt, which collapsed during the floods of Nov. 2021, is expected to begin next summer

Emergency Management Minister, Bowinn Ma, says the Province is providing more than $10 million to ensure the bridge – which connects downtown Merritt to the Collettville neighbourhood – will be rebuilt to make it more resilient to future flooding.

“The original bridge was built to withstand approximately 150 cubic metres of water per second. On that terrible November day, 320 cubic metres per second of water came rushing through and brought the bridge down,” Ma said Monday. “The new bridge will be built to withstand 490 cubic metres of water per second.”

“Rest assured, that if such an event occurs again, the new bridge will be ready for the challenge.”

The B.C. government says the rebuilt bridge will be approximately 1.5 metres higher than the original structure and built to withstand a one-in-200-year flood event.

Unlike the original bridge which had an undersized walkway and no cycling lane or shoulder, the new one is set to accommodate two lanes of vehicle traffic and one lane dedicated to pedestrians and cyclists.

“We have repaired our community almost to the point where if you didn’t know there was a flood here, a year and a half ago, you wouldn’t know it, but this bridge is a constant reminder to everyone in this valley that we had an incident,” Mayor Mike Goetz said. “It’s a scar that is here for us to see.”

“I’m really happy to tell everyone that this scar will soon be turned back into a throughway for our industrial area on this side of the community as well as a nice pedestrian bridge and the ability to heal the really last outstanding scar that we see at this time. We still have a long way to go, but we’re very grateful tot he province for stepping up.”

Construction on the Middlesboro Bridge is expected to be done in 2025.