Reconstruction of the Myra Canyon Trestles on the Kettle Valley Railway

In late August 2003, forest fires raged through the hills south of Kelowna, British Columbia. The fires ultimately destroyed 12 wooden trestles and damaged 2 steel bridges in the Myra Canyon region of the former Kettle Valley Railway. Only months earlier, this section of the Trans-Canada Trail had been designated a National Historic site. Funding to rebuild the structures was secured at both the provincial and federal levels and the rebuilding process began. Authenticity is a major objective and the trestles are being rebuilt to closely match the appearance of the original structures. The desire was always to rebuild using wood and in a manner that reflected the original designs. The remote location has presented many of the challenges encountered during the original construction a century ago. These construction challenges and the modern solutions applied to solve them are outlined in this paper.