One lane of the new Solsqua-Sicamous bridge is now open.
The eastern lane of the bridge, which crosses Eagle River, will allow alternating traffic through while the remaining portion of the bridge deck is constructed.
The District of Sicamous (DOS) announced the lane opening Monday, Aug. 16.
It said drivers may notice a bump when driving over either end of the bridge deck due to the transition between the asphalt road and the concrete bridge deck.
However, the DOS said the bumps would be temporary. Once the remaining section of the bridge is complete, the bridge deck will be paved to ensure a smooth transition.
In the coming weeks, the district said several specialized work crews will be aiding in the bridge’s construction.
At a Feb. 24, 2021 DOS council meeting, then-operations manager Joe McCulloch said he believed the project would be complete by its May 31 deadline.
At a May 12 council meeting, the expected project completion date was pushed to early spring 2022.
At DOS council’s Aug. 11 meeting, DOS operations manager Darrell Symbaluk said Sept. 19, 2021 was the newest completion date the engineering firm hired to build the bridge committed to. However, he said he wouldn’t bet on it.
In the district’s 2021 budget, $3,177,549 was allotted for the bridge replacement. So far this year, $1,430,916 has been spent.
In 2018, the DOS received a $4.5 million federal government grant for the bridge replacement.
Also allotted in the 2021 budget was $450,000 for paving Sicamous Solsqua Road. In an Aug. 11 report, Symbaluk said the paving was complete and $129,220 under budget.
Read more: Solsqua-Sicamous Bridge work on pace for June 2021 completion
Read more: Sicamous bridge completion pushed to spring 2022
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@roman_reportszachary.roman@saobserver.net
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