Threatened bridge to be replaced
A Westside bridge battered by floodwaters this past weekend will be replaced at a cost of $1.5 million.
A new Shannon Lake Road bridge over McDougall Creek has been planned for two years.
West Kelowna city council was expected on Tuesday to award the contract to low-bidder CEWE Infrastructure of North Vancouver.
During this past weekend, Shannon Lake Road at McDougall Creek was blocked to traffic because of localized flooding.
Water had risen almost to the bottom of the bridge, and crews were digging a channel around the structure to reduce pressure on it.
Vacant properties between the creek and Shannon Lake Road were flooded, but nearby residences and the Brookhaven long-term care facility were unaffected.
Shannon Lake Road is one of West Kelowna’s most heavily travelled municipally owned streets.
West Kelowna city council heard earlier this year that the bridge replacement project was estimated to take at least eight weeks, with the work to be done between late July and October.
There are eight city-owned bridges within West Kelowna.
“Many of them do need a bit of work, but this one needs a complete replacement,” Mayor Doug Findlater said in January.
Meanwhile, in West Kelowna, crews were working on Sunday to stabilize and protect the Shannon Lake Road bridge across McDougall Creek. A channel had been dug around the north side of the creek, and residences on the south side were not immediately threatened by the fast-flowing creek.
In other news, an evacuation alert issued on the weekend for 90 homes in the Fintry delta area off North Westside Road was rescinded on Monday.
A boil-water advisory was introduced on Friday for some members of the Westbank First Nation.
Meanwhile, flooding concerns could shift from local creeks to the shores of Okanagan Lake this week. The lake is nearing its maximum level, despite efforts to boost its outflow. The lake had reached an elevation of 342.40 metres above sea level, only eight centimetres from a maximum target aimed for by officials who control the lake’s drainage system.
“I think what we’re going to be watching for this week is for flooding along the shore now that the lake is getting so full from all the creek water,” Findlater said on Monday.