BC Hydro will be closing the Brewster Lake Road bridge beside the John Hart Dam in Campbell River from May 2 to 13.
The closure will be 24/7 until repairs on the bridge are completed.
On March 24, BC Hydro announced a temporary rating reduction of the Bailey bridge from 70 tons to 15 tons due to deteriorating bridge decking.
Awareness signage was placed by the area to alert industrial traffic.
“We now have a plan to replace the old wood road decking with new wood decking,” said BC Hydro spokesperson Stephen Watson. “Public traffic over the bridge needs to be closed 24/7 to safely complete the work and maintain the integrity of the bridge while the work stages take place.
“Once the repair work is complete, the road will be re-opened and the bridge will be back to the 70 ton rating. BC Hydro encourages heavily weighted industrial traffic, such as a tandem dump truck, to use alternative road routes rather than going over the John Hart Dam.”
We’ll be replacing the road decking on the Brewster Lake Rd bridge, beside the John Hart Dam, on May 2-13. 24/7 road closure during that time. Once re-opened, it will be back to the 70 ton vehicle rating.
— Stephen Watson, BC Hydro (@SWatson_BCH) April 20, 2022
Thank you for your patience.#CampbellRiver https://t.co/tZET4OPm6A
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The Bailey bridge was put in place for the John Hart Generating Station Replacement Project and the required truck hauling and crane access. It will be used again for the upcoming John Hart Dam Seismic Upgrade Project that’s scheduled to begin in summer 2023. As part of the new project, BC Hydro plans to replace the bridge with a downstream earth-fill berm and have the Brewster Lake Road go across the top of the berm.
Starting around summer 2023, the Brewster Lake Road around the John Hart Dam will be closed to the public for about six years while the seismic upgrade work is performed.
editor@campbellrivermirror.com
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