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Monday, December 1, 2008
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Overpass open for traffic |
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Written by GORDON HOEKSTRA
Citizen staff
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Tuesday, 07 October 2008 |
Forests minister Pat Bell stands with a logging truck Tuesday during the opening of the Bobtail Forest Service Road. (Submitted photo)
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FORESTS MINISTER PAT BELLBC
“This overpass will dramatically improve the safety of our truck drivers and the travelling public. It also can be a bridge to future developments, in particular, bioenergy opportunities in the region,” said Forests Minister Pat Bell.
The overpass is on Highway 16 near Bednesti Lake, about 50 kilometres west of Prince George. The Bobtail Forest Service road provides an off-highway haul route to Canfor’s Isle Pierre sawmill. With an estimated 600,000 to 700,000 cubic metres of wood being hauled along the Bobtail each year, road user groups identified the crossing as a significant safety concern.
The overpass was designed by Associated Engineering Ltd. from Burnaby and constructed by two prime contractors Blackwater Construction from Prince George and LNB Construction from Merritt. It was designed and built to ensure it would accommodate any future highway improvements such as widening, meet the height clearance needed for an industrial corridor and protect highway users from any dust and debris normally generated from an industrial overpass.
Funding for the project was first announced in 2006 as part of a $20.7-million package to upgrade logging roads in north-central B.C. to help deal with increased truck traffic from the mountain pine beetle epidemic.
Government and industry stepped up their focus on safety after more than 40 forestry workers were killed on the job in 2005. In the coastal area of the province, timber fallers have led the death tally, while in northern B.C., log truckers are the most likely to be killed.
Since 1995 in northern B.C., more than 30 log truckers and other forestry drivers have been killed on the job.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 07 October 2008 )
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