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Province completes clean up of Red Bridge debris, moves to planning phase

Paul James
Mar 12, 2025 | 9:35 AM


Province completes clean up of Red Bridge debris, moves to planning phase

The Red Bridge in Kamloops as seen on Thursday morning. (Photo via Connor Morrison/Facebook)

The BC government has announced that it’s entering into the next phase of its process to replace the Red Bridge.

The Province says it has completed all of the clean-up of what remained of the span both in the water, and off the north and south sides of the crossing as well.

In announcing its completion of the environmental work, the Province says it utilized underwater remote vehicles and GPS to ensure the critical waterway is clear of debris.

The Ministry of Transportation and Transit says its next step is to launch the planning phase for the replacement span.

It says it will be putting out a request for proposals to hire a consultant planning-and-design team to lead the planning process, which is expected to start sometime this spring.

The province says its goal is to be build a bridge that will improve regional transportation, while keeping safety and the critical link to Tk’emlups and the Mt. Paul Industrial Park in mind as well.

Provincial authorities have said they intend to work closely with both the City and Tk’emlups on a design to ensure the bridge is able to meet the needs of both communities, while keeping in mind growth expectations and the cultural significance of the bridge as well.

Crews have been working since the end of September to try to clear the South Thompson of debris from the remains of the Red Bridge, much of which was partly toxic due to the creosote used to treat the wood that held up the bridge deck, which also had pavement and other chemicals embedded into it as well.

The Red Bridge was torched on September 19th, with the Mounties still not able to announce an arrest.

It’s possible the fire on September 19th was a successful 2nd attempt at torching the span, after crews with Kamloops Fire Rescue were able to douse a fire underneath the Bridge just a couple of days earlier.

So far no arrests have been made, and no suspects or possible motive publicly identified by the RCMP.