Middlesboro Bridge Rebuild

Overview

The City of Merritt’s Middlesboro Bridge on Voght Street was destroyed in the November 2021 Flood.

In Merritt, the flood levels, exacerbated by a melting snowpack from the Coldwater headwaters, reached 2.5 times the previously predicted flood levels, destroying flood gauges and overcoming the diking system.

The Coldwater River ultimately changed its course, undermining the Middlesboro Bridge and causing an irreparable collapse, leaving an enduring visible scar on the community.

The new bridge has been engineered for a water level almost 4x higher than the previous bridge, and 1.5 time higher than the 2021 flood, capable of withstanding a one-in-200-year flood event and accommodating a 65% increase in water volume.

Additionally, it is a clear-span structure which leaves no middle pier to collect debris in a flood, and reduces the environmental impact in the river.

The new bridge will also accommodate a more active transportation design, with a dedicated pedestrian and cyclist lane as well as two lanes of traffic.

Funding

The reparation of the bridge was beyond the capacity of this small community of over 7,000 people. After dealing with emergency operations and clean-up, the City began lobbying the provincial and federal governments for funding support.

Thanks to $329,000 in funding from the Province of BC, the City was able to prepare a detailed Flood Mitigation Plan with conceptual engineering and cost estimates totalling over $167 million (presented March 2022; adopted November 2022). (The required funding amount is now updated to $109 million).

A detailed engineering proposal and cost estimate for the replacement of the Middlesboro Bridge was submitted in October 2022.

In June 2023, the BC Ministry of Emergency Management Climate Readiness approved $9,600,000 in funding to replace the Middlesboro Bridge on Voght Street.

About $12.2 million in Disaster Financial Assistance funding from the Province has already been approved for the City of Merritt since the floods of 2021, which were the most expensive natural disaster in B.C.’s history with catastrophic impacts to communities, the economy and critical infrastructure.