Editorially speaking…
In last week’s editorial I shrugged off the impending demolition of the historic Holt Creek trestle at Mile 59.7 on the Glenora stretch of the Trans Canada Trail as inevitable and, well, c’est la vie.
It’s to be replaced with a purely utilitarian span of steel and concrete with a wooden deck.
Holt Creek Trestle, Mile 59.7 (Glenora), on the Trans Canada Trail. —Courtesy Larry Pynn
Thanks to journalist and blogger Larry Pynn (www.sixmountains.ca), I see that I’ve been sleepwalking.
Okay, the current trestle (34 metres high and 73 metres long) is now over a century old. It has had two major renos, in 2002 and 2018, and is, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, “nearing the end of its lifespan. The assessment recommended the bridge be replaced rather than continuously repaired and maintained.”
It isn’t for me to argue for or against the trestle needing more and major repairs, but I’m sure disappointed with the planned replacement. It’s going to look exactly like what it’s intended to be—a streamlined bridge spanning Holt Creek—functional, but no more, no less. Oh, they’re faking the two bump-outs for viewing, what originally were for water barrels in the railway days.
So much for history.
Can you imagine the Kinsol Trestle, today, as just a steel and concrete bridge? Simply a means of getting across the Koksilah River? Is this what the Trans Canada Trail is to become, just a recreational corridor for hikers, cyclists and equestrians? (With a few attractive signboards thrown in to hint at its railway provenance?)
Where’s the history in that? Where’s the story of the Canadian National (originally the Canadian Northern Pacific) Railway, which was meant to go from Sidney to Prince Rupert via Seymour Narrows, using infamous Ripple Rock to cross to the Mainland!?
Other than some signs with historic photos, and the Kinsol Trestle—which is acknowledged as the Crown Jewel of Cowichan Valley tourism—the former railway grade is a gravel walkway. What’s next, paving it?
And, speaking of “replac[ing] rather than continuously repair[ing] and maintain[ing]” the Holt Creek Trestle, is this the long-term future of the Kinsol? Is the day coming when bureaucrats in Victoria crunch the numbers and opt for a steel and concrete crossing? Just as almost happened, 20 years ago?
This artist’s conception shows us what we’re going to get at Holt Creek: very functional, I’m sure, but hardly in keeping with the Trans Canada Trail’s railway provenance. —ww2.gov.bc.ca
According to Larry Pynn’s research, the famous Myra Creek Canyon wooden trestles of the Okanagan’s Kettle Valley Railway that were destroyed by fire, then rebuilt at federal government expense of $17 million, draw 50,000 visitors annually. The Kinsol Trestle, a CVRD signboard tells us, draws an estimated 100,000 visitors annually!
(The wooden Myra Creek trestles were replicated as wooden trestles, by the way, not replaced with steel and concrete.)
Okay, the Holt Creek Trestle has come to the end of its life and needs replacing—so rebuild it with timbers to maintain its historical provenance. Wooden trestles, I would point out, were designed to be repaired, piece-meal, on a regular basis, particularly in the age before timbers could be treated with preservatives to extend their serviceable lifespan. You can repair and/or replace spans and stringers fairly easily, no matter where they’re situated within the structure.
Wooden trestles are a work of genius.
Get Macdonald & Lawrence Timber Framing Ltd., whose expertise with wooden structures returned the Kinsol Trestle to vibrant life, back in the act. With today’s pressure-treated timbers, the Holt Creek Trestle can maintain its historical look and go on for years and years.
And the Trans Canada Trail can go on being what it’s meant to be, a recreational corridor with a history and a story to tell.
* * * * *
A great view of the trestle’s wooden superstructure. Believe it or not, replacement of any of its timbers is a relatively straightforward business—wooden trestles are designed that way. —Courtesy Andrew Waldegrave
Fate seems to have conspired against the Holt Creek Trestle.
According to the late Ralph Morris, retired chief engineer for CN Rail’s Western Division, the Holt Creek span was one of several that were progressively improved by using treated timbers during his stewardship. "We could do it out of operating money. If we had another year or so we could have finished...”
By this, he meant that, had CN Rail (as the CNR had become known) been denied its request to discontinue operations, it would have had to complete rebuilding the Holt Creek span.
Although its superstructure, which consisted of steel beams which were fabricated in 1887 and recycled from two disused bridges on the abandoned Saanich Peninsula mainline in 1939, remained sound, the central timber span was of untreated timber. By the time of the CVRD's renewal program for the Trans Canada Trail, Holt Creek required so much major and expensive surgery that it imperilled plans for revitalizing the Kinsol Trestle.