This photo of the Red Bridge was snapped two days before it was destroyed by fire. (Image Credit: Mel Rothenburger)

By Mel Rothenburger

Sound Off

SOUND OFF: Red Bridge could rise from the ashes, literally – here’s how

Sep 23, 2024 | 9:41 AM

TURNS OUT the Red Bridge could be brought back to life stronger, wider and better than ever, and keep its historic look. A man who knows how to do it will be in town today.

Randy Ludwar lives in the Okanagan and works for a company called Timber Restoration Services. It specializes in the use of mass timber, an engineered wood construction material used in buildings and, yes, bridges…. including restorations.

“We could actually build it to an exact replica, but a refined replica to meet modern highway requirements,” he told me last night by phone. “Whatever they’re going to build in steel and concrete we can build in wood and mass timber.”

So Ludwar wants to check out the scene for himself and assess the possibilities.

According to Forestry Innovation Investment, an agency that promotes B.C. wood for construction, mass timber products “are made by taking smaller wood elements such as dimension lumber, veneers, or strands” and connecting them to create larger structural building components.

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And, since I know you’re wondering about this, mass timber is inherently fire resistant. And yet, I pointed out to Ludwar, the Red Bridge burned like, well, a house on fire, collapsing into the South Thompson River within hours.

Ludwar explained the reason for that is that the bridge timber was infused with creosote, an old method of chemically protecting wood from decay using a bitumen-based preservative. We commonly still see it in utility poles and railroad ties. One source I looked at says that when it ignites, it burns with “blast-furnace intensity.”

Mass timber is coated with a fireproof intumescent sealant to enhance its natural fire resistance. Ludwar said it’s a myth that steel and concrete are inherently tougher. Steel, for example, melts at a certain temperature. (One can see where some of the steel I-beams on the Red Bridge sagged from the fire.) In coastal areas, salt water erodes concrete.

“There’s no difference between steel and wood,” said Ludwar. Steel is protected with intumescent sealant, the same as wood is, to protect it from fire.

He further explained that when wood chars a quarter of an inch in from the surface, a natural insulation is created.

Here’s the bottom line with mass timber bridge construction. It’s faster to build with and is up to 20 or 25 per cent cheaper than traditional steel and concrete, said Ludwar. “It’s quicker, and definitely less expensive. We can economize with wood. Steel and concrete are very expensive.”

Given the cost of building bridges these days, that could mean a savings of millions of dollars. A mass timber bridge has a life expectancy of 100 years or more, at least as long as steel and concrete.

And mass timber is produced right here in B.C. using Douglas fir. “Everything we do is with coastal Doug fir.” He said it’s a fifth the weight of steel and an eighth the weight of concrete. “It’s more sustainable, more environmentally friendly.”

Ludwar is familiar with the Howe truss design that was used to build the Red Bridge in 1936, and said it could be copied. “It’s not something that’s unusual.” He also pointed out that in 2019, Timber Restoration Services and engineering consultant Wood Research and Development did a comprehensive inspection of the Red Bridge for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, and know details of its design and construction intimately.

If this all sounds like a sales pitch, well, of course it is. Ludwar’s company is involved in bridge building projects around the world. But could it be a viable answer — creating a modern, roomy Red Bridge to succeed the old? It will be up to MOTI (which owns the bridge) to ultimately decide — presumably with consultation with the city, Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc and public on what it should look like. The contractor would be determined through the provincial bidding process.

The provincial government officially supports the expansion of the mass timber industry in B.C., which currently has a few companies involved in it. In 2022, it released a Mass Timber Action Plan and says government industry and Indigenous partners have taken action to expand manufacturing, increase the mass timber workforce and advance low carbon construction. It says B.C. is well-known in North America for being a leader in mass timber innovation.

Oh, yeah, and an update to the plan says mass timber “has a fire and seismic performance equivalent to concrete and steel.”

But when it comes to bridges, there’s some catching up to do. A new provincial government manual on bridges spends four or five pages on concrete and steel crossings and only a couple of paragraphs on mass timber.

Ludwar has sent off a letter to the city expressing his company’s interest, and Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson is enthusiastic about the mass timber option. “I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes; it’s going to be up to MOTI but it could be built as close to its historic form as we want. The biggest thing is having it wider and highway grade.”

There’s one point of urgency in the discussion of using mass timber for the Red Bridge, and that’s to not move too quickly in tearing down what’s left of the old crossing.

“I’m guessing what they’re going to do is knock down the wood that’s there but it doesn’t have to be,” said Ludwar. “Whatever’s standing there right now shouldn’t be touched. Let’s get someone in to inspect and decide what’s usable or not and decide from there.”

It’s even possible, he said, that the two ends of the bridge — which were comparatively unscathed by the fire — could be incorporated into the rebuilding, even though the final version of the new bridge would be wider. “We can reinforce and rebuild certain sections.”

There’s a lot of discussion around town right now about whether the bridge should be replaced at the same location, and what it should look like. But creating a new span in the same spot is a no-brainer because it’s the best place to connect the south side of the river to all the commerce that has built up in Mount Paul subdivision based on the old bridge. As well, it provides an alternative way of getting to the Yellowhead Highway.

Whether or not to allow heavy commercial truck traffic is another matter — there would certainly be issues with big semis rumbling around that part of town. But they could be restricted, just as they were with the old bridge. The difference would be that the new version would be capable of taking much heavier weights.

Think of it. Our beautiful Red Bridge rising from the ashes, literally. Wider, stronger, cheaper. Faster to build. Seems as though it should at least be an option.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.