The Westham Island Bridge in Delta is now completely closed for critical repair work.
A barge strike from a tugboat damaged the wood-deck single-lane truss bridge on Jan. 20. The bridge, which is located at Canoe Pass near the mouth of the Fraser River, connects Westham Island with the Delta mainland.
Following the barge strike, the bridge was closed to all vehicle traffic, but it is now closed to pedestrians as well and is expected to remain closed for several weeks.
TransLink, which owns the bridge, said crews will need to carry out continuous repair work without repeated stops and starts as one of the bridge’s primary support structures was severely impacted in the collision.
Emergency services will continue to have access to the bridge at all times, the organization confirmed.
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There are about 130 households on Westham Island and TrankLink says water taxi service will be available 24/7 every 30 minutes with on-call overnight service.
“Pile driving will be required and will be noisy,” TransLink said in a statement.
“This work is essential to stabilize the bridge and advance repairs, and the City of Delta has amended its noise bylaws to allow overnight construction.”
The Transportation Safety Board confirmed that it is investigating the crash.
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