We’re not the only ones who know British Columbia is a scenic place to work and play. Every year, filmmakers, actors and athletes from around the world use provincial roads and highways as backdrops for the big screen and terrain for local sporting events. With the amount of filming that is done in BC, it’s no surprise we’re known as “Hollywood North.” In 2017, the film industry generated $3.6 billion for local economies, according to Creative BC statistics. Before...
Customer service is a major part of what we do at the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. From maintaining highways to handling development approvals, our goal is to provide the best service we can. Of course, there’s always room for improvement. That’s why we’re asking you to help make us better by taking our 17th annual Customer Satisfaction Survey, open from July 16 to Sept. 14, 2018. Last year, we received more than 3,000 responses from folks across the province,...
The number one question we get about our Engineer-in-Training/Geoscientist-in-Training Program (EIT) and Technician-Entry-Level Program (TELP) is… “What kinds of projects do graduates end up working on throughout their career with the ministry?” The engineers and technicians who joined us through these programs have gone on to do some pretty amazing things. Their career paths are diverse, and have taken them to all corners of the province. We consider them “transportation all-stars,” so we decided to answer this popular question...
It took more than 10,000 people 20 months of continuous work to open Phase 1 of the Coquihalla, on May 16, 1986. Many of the men and women who worked on this historic project have moved on to new adventures; however, some still work for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. To get a sense of what it was like to work on a project of this scale, we asked four ministry staffers (one retired/three current) four questions. Their...
Sometimes moving to something new means moving something older – but not too far. That’s the case with the single-lane Fort Nelson River Bridge, which we moved about 10.5 metres in mid-April, to allow for a new two-lane bridge to be built on Highway 77, about 70 km north of Fort Nelson. The existing bridge will serve as a detour while the new bridge is being built. This video shows the existing bridge – a lengthy 430 metres –...
Sometimes we work on a project that changes not just the highway, but the world around it. Such was the case with our recent work on scenic Highway 95 at Luxor Creek. A key wildlife corridor connecting important animal habitats between the Purcell and Rocky Mountains is a step closer to reality thanks, in part, to the new Luxor Creek Bridge. To say we are thrilled to be a part of making it happen is an understatement (normally, our...
Engineers are a creative bunch by nature. When faced with a challenging situation, their desire to find a solution is second only to the creativity and analysis they use to overcome that obstacle. The terrain of British Columbia has no shortage of dramatic and difficult terrain for our highway engineers and they are full of innovative solutions. Engineers envision highways carved out of mountainsides and bridges that span awe inspiring gulches and make those visions a reality. Some of...
APRIL 26, 2016 UPDATE: The new McKenzie interchange will be built as a partial cloverleaf reflecting the preferred option of 75% of those who participated in the public consultation, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Todd Stone announced today. You gave us a lot to consider during the first phase of McKenzie Interchange Project consultation last November-December. Now it’s time to look back… and move forward with a more detailed design and continued consultation with you. The report summarizing the fall...
You asked for it and here it is. Hop aboard our BC Road Trip Time Machine and travel back to Highway 1, through the Fraser Canyon from Hope to Lytton, circa 1966. The significance of this road and its seven tunnels cannot be understated. In order to improve this portion of the Trans-Canada (the same general route used by the Royal Engineers to build the Cariboo Highway almost 150 years ago), some of the most difficult and expensive highway...
If you want to attract fish, you need to think like a fish (or so the old adage goes). Until recently, any fish swimming up Heart Creek under BC Highway 6 in Fauquier might have been thinking that the world was conspiring against them. That’s because the culvert carrying Heart Creek under the highway had been badly undercut from scouring during freshet runoff in recent years, making spawning upstream of it almost impossible. Fear not little fishes! That pesky...
