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Construction on North Fork Bridge replacement beginning soon

Construction on a replacement for the North Fork Bridge over the Perry River between Revelstoke and Sicamous is set to begin this fall
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An artists image of the four lane North Fork Bridge.

Work on replacing another aging Trans-Canada Highway bridge west of Revelstoke is set to begin this fall.

Construction on a replacement for the North Fork Bridge over the Perry River will begin soon, the B.C. Government announced Thursday.

The Ministry of Transportation announced that Tybo Contracting of Langley, B.C., was awarded the $15.7 million contract to replace the aging Trans-Canada Highway bridge with a four-lane structure. The work will also involve twinning 3.8 kilometres of highway, resurfacing 2.2 kilometres of highway and building 1.6 kilometres of frontage roads.

The North Fork Bridge is a 58-year-old structure located 40 kilometres west of Revelstoke, at the former Skyline Truck Stop. It is the last remaining bridge with a metal through truss on the Trans-Canada Highway. It has two lane, low clearance and is nearing the end of its service life, the ministry said in a news release.

"It's great that we'll have crews out this year already on this 4-laning project for Highway 1 that will be especially beneficial to residents and the large number of tourists and commercial drivers travelling through the region," said Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo in a news release.

Work is expected to begin this fall and to finish in 2018. It follows the replacement of the Malakwa Bridge, which was completed this year.

Funding for the $38 million project is being split by the province, which is contributing $25.2 million, and the federal government, which is paying for the rest.

A ministry spokesperson said the rest of the money is going towards land acquisition, design work and engineering.

The province also announced $162.7 million in funding for the Salmon Arm West project. The work will see the Salmon River Bridge replaced, the highway through west Salmon Arm expanded to four lanes, and new frontage roads built.