BC Highway 8 Flooding Rehabilitation

When devastating floods hit British Columbia in November 2021, significant portions of Highway 8 between Spences Bridge and Merritt were washed away, leaving many residents and Indigenous communities completely isolated. The restoration of this roadway required strong collaboration between the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, local Indigenous communities, contractors, and construction teams. They brought in our Transportation team to help.

Our job? To work with the project team on a series of flood recovery projects. The large-scale devastation to Highway 8 required a multidisciplinary response which included over 40 team members from our bridge, highway, survey, project, and construction disciplines. Our teams were some of the first on site, providing early response and rapid structural inspections. The endeavor included reconnecting Highway 8’s sections by repairing 25 erosion sites and three bridges as well as designing a new temporary alignment which included the installation of a 73-metre (240-foot), two-span temporary bridge and an 85-metre (280-foot) single-span temporary bridge.

The partnership between these diverse teams allowed Highway 8 to reopen in just under a year, reconnecting isolated residents and communities, and re-opening key shipping routes used by the local ranching and forestry industries. The reconstruction has built a stronger roadbed for improved resiliency against future flooding and unexpected natural events.