Holt Creek Trestle beyond saving, but rebuilding an option, says heritage conservation expert
‘A wooden solution would be more sustainable and have a much reduced carbon footprint'
The Holt Creek Trestle has lost much of its heritage value over the years, says a heritage conservation expert based in the Cowichan Valley. But it still remains a candidate for rebuilding — similar to what occurred at Myra Canyon in the Okanagan about two decades ago.
“The argument can’t realistically be about saving Holt Creek,” says Gordon Macdonald of Heritageworks Ltd. in Cobble Hill. “It’s about how you want to replace it.”
The BC government is poised to demolish the Holt Creek railway trestle, built in 1922 on the Cowichan Valley Trail, part of the iconic Trans Canada Trail, alongside Cowichan River Provincial Park.
The public has expressed strong support on-line for conservation of the wooden trestle.
But the province has not provided detailed cost and maintenance estimates for all options, including for rebuilding the trestle to its original form — or to a lesser form, as occurred at Myra Canyon.
“They’ll all have different price tags and different maintenance requirements,” Macdonald told sixmountains.ca.
Instead, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is sticking to its plan — in the midst of a provincial election campaign — to demolish the trestle in favour of a steel span.
The ministry says a steel replacement was selected for Holt Creek “based on functionality, constructability, avoiding in-stream works, as well as cost and ease of long-term maintenance.”
But steel has some drawbacks over wood, Macdonald said. “A wooden solution for replacing the bridge would be more sustainable and have much reduced carbon footprint.”
Macdonald led rehabilitation of the larger Kinsol Trestle, which crosses the Koksilah River, several kilometres south of Holt Creek. Kinsol Trestle reopened in 2011 as a major tourist draw.
Macdonald also twice conducted assessments of Holt Creek Trestle, most recently for consultants Associated Engineering in 2018.
The province has so far refused to release that assessment report.
The key difference between the two trestles is that Kinsol had a “lot of really good and authentic material to work with,” Macdonald said.
Holt Creek, while a “lovely crossing in an evocative spot,” has been repeatedly repaired “in ways that changed it. Some of those repairs have been well executed and some have not.”
Macdonald added: “A lot of the materials used in 2002 we would never dream of using today. They’re not compatible materials. A lot of the repairs were not very thoughtful — get the job done, change what you need to, to support that high-level crossing.
“They’re very pragmatic, the sorts of repairs a general builder would have made, not someone who restores historic structures.”
The discussion of Holt Creek draws comparison to Myra Canyon on the historic Kettle Valley Railway, site of a major wildfire in 2003.
Senior governments spent millions of dollars to rebuild 12 wooden trestles — not to their original condition, capable of supporting a locomotive and train, but to a reduced standard.
“What went back was a modern, lighter version of the original that looked very similar,” Macdonald said. “It was driven by cost.”
Should Holt Creek Trestle be treated differently?
“It’s a reasonable question to ask: What is the difference?” Macdonald said. “Even nationally, there’s not that many of these really lovely old bridges left.
“When they are maintained, they have … economic and tourism value. They’re not just pretty things. They actually help drive the economy, and Kinsol has been a good example of that.”
Associated Engineering looked at five bridges in the Cowichan Valley, including Holt Creek, saying they are among the “few remaining examples of significant engineering works associated with early twentieth century transportation history on Vancouver Island.”
The “large and complex timber trestles provide an evocative window into the logging history of British Columbia and are recognized heritage resources of the Cowichan Valley Regional District,” the consultant added.
Macdonald noted there are fewer wooden rail trestles around these days. “When you look at them, they really do strike you as awesome achievements, especially when you imagine those being remote wilderness places when they were built.”
In Kamloops, a fire heavily damaged the historic Red Bridge on Sept. 19, 2024, which has already prompted calls for its replacement.
The ministry said in a recent news release the Holt Creek Trestle opened in 1922 and served as a rail line until 1991 when CN Rail handed the line over to the province. The timber structure sits 34 metres above Holt Creek and spans 73 metres.
The structural assessment by Associated Engineering determined the bridge was nearing the end of its lifespan, the ministry said. “The assessment recommended the bridge be replaced rather than continuously repaired and maintained.”
The ministry says that the estimated cost to maintain the Holt Creek Trestle (in 2019 dollars, not including engineering design costs) totals $1 million for the first five years, $250,000 for the next five years and $5 million for the next 40 years.
The estimated cost to build the new steel bridge is $5 million. No maintenance estimates have been provided.
Macdonald said the ministry is “stretched pretty thin” due to infrastructure damage from “fires and floods” in recent years, which is likely a factor in choosing a steel replacement for Holt Creek Trestle.
At Myra Canyon, the senior government said in a 2004 news release they planned to spend $13.5 million to reconstruct 12 wooden trestles and two damaged steel trestles.
The ultimate cost reportedly totalled $17 million by the official opening in 2008. That’s closer to $23 million in today’s money — far beyond the estimated maintenance costs at Holt Creek.
Construction on the replacement project at Holt Creek is imminent, with completion expected in May 2025.
Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, has declined to be interviewed on the future of Holt Creek Trestle. He is not seeking re-election as MLA in Victoria-Swan Lake.
Here are emails for Cowichan Valley candidates in the Oct. 19 provincial election:
— Debra Toporowski, NDP: debra.toporowski@bcndp.ca
— John Koury, Conservatives: john.koury@conservativebc.ca
— Cammy Lockwood, Greens: cammy.lockwood@greenparty.bc.ca
— Eden Haythornthwaite, independent: haythornthwaite@shaw.ca
(Heritageworks Ltd. photos from 2018 assessment of Holt Creek Trestle. BC government conceptual design of planned steel bridge. Sixmountains.ca photo of trestle.)
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