Myra Canyon British Columbia - Work will begin next week on reconstruction of the first of the trestles destroyed in the Okanagan Mountain Park wildfire.
 
A contract was awarded Thursday for $350,000 to rebuild trestle 18, the first on the Kettle Valley Railroad in Myra Canyon from the parking lot on Myra Forest Service Road.
 
Ken Campbell, of the Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society, says they're very excited to get started on rebuilding the distinctive spans, 12 of which were destroyed in the wildfire.
 
Two wooden ones escaped and two steel ones were only partly damaged.
 
Surespan Construction of West Vancouver turned in the lowest of five bids on the project, at close to the society's estimated cost.
 
Eight to 10 contractors expressed interest in the project and made a site visit, but only five bid.
 
Materials have been ordered and it's expected the work will be completed by the end of December, if not earlier, says Campbell.
 
The design work for this trestle has been scaled down from the original historic bridge, with fewer vertical "bents" or legs, but it will end up looking similar to the heritage trestles.
 
To carry pedestrians and cyclists, the same load-carrying capacity isn't needed as what is necessary to carry a fully-loaded steam locomotive.
 
Trestle 18 spans 55 metres, but there's a vehicle-width trail hugging the canyon wall, which effectively bypasses the trestle.
 
That will make it easier to rebuild this particular trestle since workers will be able to access it from both sides of the gap.
 
During the winter design work will be done on other trestles in the canyon and the society plans to put them out to contract in the spring.
 
Over winter, as much as four or five feet of snow can accumulate along the railbed, now used as a recreational corridor and part of the Trans-Canada Trail.
 
At the end of August, nearly a year after wildfire swept through the rugged canyon, the federal and provincial governments announced plans that would put $13.5 million into reconstruction of the trestles in the next three years, with 90 percent to be paid by the federal government's Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements fund.
 
Myra Canyon was declared a national historic site just eight months before the trestles went up in flames.
 
Author unknown.