Floods caused erosion to Old Highway 5 in May 2017, and cut off the main road through Heffley Creek.

(MIKE MCDONALD / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - Kamloops council has approved a $2.1 million contract to build a bridge to replace a culvert washed out by the spring flooding in Heffley Creek.

The initial estimate for the project was $1.7 million, but after construction bids came back showing the earthwork involved with building a bridge will be more than expected, council approved spending $2.1 million.

"Tender results ranged from $1.8 million to $2.9 million and those are construction costs alone," Public Works and Utilities director Jen Fretz says. "Those are based on current market conditions. We think that because there is so much work out there... we had prices higher than we anticipated they would be."

The motion to approve the funding passed unanimously by council, with Pat Wallace saying it's best to get this project underway as soon as possible.

"We have to get on with this," Wallace says. "The price may have increased... but if we were to wait, the price would increase again because it never gets cheaper."

The city is currently using $1.1 million from the general reserve fund but an application for disaster financial support is before the province and it is expected that $1.2 million will be provided. If the city receives less funding than expected, the general reserve fund would take a hit.

With council's approval the project is expected to get underway later this month. The earthwork is likely to begin in the new year with paving of the gravel road on each side of the bridge taking place in the spring.

Acres Enterprises was chosen to do the construction after putting forward the lowest bid.

The floods that did the damage in Heffley Creek back in May caused a local state of emergency and the main road connecting two sides of the community remains unusable. A boil water advisory is expected to remain in effect for residents until the road is repaired.

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News from © iNFOnews, 2017