An old wooden footbridge that links the east and west sides of the historic Ioco townsite in Port Moody is in such disrepair, it would cost at least $200,000 to fix up or as much as $2.8 million to replace.
And that’s just too much money according to some councillors who voted Tuesday not to spend up to $10,000 for a detailed assessment by a structural engineer to determine whether parts of the existing bridge could be saved and repaired.
Tim Aucott, senior project engineer for the city, said the span over a ravine and Village Creek is falling apart, with hand railings missing and decking rotting away. It’s been closed off to public access for several years.
Aucott said while it’s unknown when the structure was built, its design and method of construction suggests it was likely erected in the late 1960s or early 70s. That puts it well beyond its expected lifespan, he added.
Coun. Diana Dilworth, who’s also the chair of the city’s heritage commission, said restoring the bridge was put forward as a possible legacy project for next year’s centennial anniversary of the Ioco townsite.
“We have one chance to look at this bridge,” she said.
But Mayor Rob Vagramov said the span’s unknown history makes its worth as a heritage asset suspect.
“This is an asset that wasn’t even worth writing down the year it was built in,” he said. “This is not the direction we want to be investing in.”
According to Jim Millar, of Port Moody’s Station Museum, a functional bridge could help facilitate walking tours of the site that once served as a company town for workers at the nearby Imperial Oil refinery. He said it’s only known historical significance is that it was used by Terry Fox on one of his running routes as he trained for his Marathon of Hope across Canada in 1980.
That wasn’t enough to convince Coun. Meghan Lahti, who said, “It’s not a bridge that we know is something of significant heritage value,” adding, “I could never support spending money on a report about this bridge.”
