Members of the public are advised that sections of  the Rail Trail and the Elk River Timber Trail in the Beaver Lodge Forest Lands in Campbell River will be temporarily closed between January and April 2016 – weather permitting – to replace five bridges on the trails.

Three bridges on the Rail Trail and two on the Elk River Timber Trail will be installed under the supervision of a professional engineer in the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.

Portions of the trails will be closed to maintain public safety and protect workers while the project is ongoing. Signs will be posted at trail heads with information on the closures.

The new bridges will replace bridges built in 1995, which have deteriorated over the last 20 years.

Environmental monitoring, under the direction of a registered professional biologist, will ensure that streams are not damaged during the removal and installation of the bridges. The replacement bridges will meet provincial fish passage guidelines.

The Beaver Lodge Forest Lands were given in trust to the province for forest management and reforestation research purposes in 1931 by the Elk River Timber Company.