Historic trestle bridges to be restored

The B.C. provincial government and the Canadian government have agreed to provide funds to rebuild the historic Kettle Valley Railway trestle bridges in Myra Canyon. The bridges were destroyed in the Okanagan Mountain Park fires last summer.
The three-year restoration project includes restoring the trestles, removing hazardous trees and stabilizing the slopes. It will cost approximately $13.5 million, of which the federal government will contribute up to 90% of the total eligible restoration costs, and the province will contribute the rest.
Trestle Number 18 is already being redesigned by engineers at the Canadian Pacific Railway Company using modified versions of the original engineering drawings.
The Kettle Valley Railway was built through the southern interior of B.C. back in 1916. The 18 trestle bridges — two steel, and the rest wooden — were built by hand to bridge the mile-wide canyon.
In the 1970s CPR stopped using the line and it became part of the Trans Canada Trail and was used as a popular hiking and cycling trail. A volunteer organization was maintaining it and in January2003 it was designated a National Historic Site, just seven months before it was destroyed in the wild fires.