PAST-PRESENT-FUTURE OF THE TRANS-CANADA HIGHWAY IN BC FROM KAMLOOPS TO THE ALBERTA BORDER

摘要

For many Canadians, the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) is familiar and is understood as a transportation network that connects our coastlines. The historical importance of the highway is best described in the words of our past Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. On the official opening day of the TCH in Rogers Pass on September 3, 1962, he stated: "This highway, may it serve to bring Canadians closer together, may it bring to all Canadians a renewed determination to individually do their part to make this nation greater and greater still ...I express the hope and the prayer today that this highway will always serve the cause of peace, that it will never hear the marching tramp of warlike feet." The opening of the TCH in Rogers Pass, between Revelstoke and Golden in British Columbia, was no mistake. It may have been logical to host the official opening at either coast, but the opening at Rogers Pass was a tribute to the engineering feat to complete the section of highway between Kamloops and the Alberta Border. The unique issues and constraints that contribute to past, present and future design and construction challenges revolve around the impressive mountain ranges and river valleys and adjacent railways. These translate into design considerations such as avalanches, slope stability, floods, the environment and stakeholders. The collision and unplanned closures statistics speak to the fact that this stretch of highway is arguably the hardest to build. Using 2005 - 2012 data, there were an average of 522 collisions and 64 unplanned closures per year. The BC Government has an initiative to 4-lane the TCH from Kamloops to the Alberta Border. An investment of $700 Million has been undertaken towards this initiative from 2001 - 2012; after this investment there are still more kilometres of 2-lane highway between the Kamloops Alberta Border than there is between the BC/Alberta Border and Ontario. Improvements are necessary to aid our nation's economy in the movement of people and goods. Over the next 10 years an additional $650 Million investment is planned for this segment of the TCH. In the context of the conference theme, this paper focuses on the "Past, Present and Future" of the TCH between Kamloops and the Alberta Border. It will recap the history of the TCH and the drivers to improve safety, mobility, and reliability. The paper will highlight the engineering achievements from the past, and provide an outlook into future designs and associated engineering challenges.