Delta’s Westham Island residents forced to walk, shuttle or ferry until extent of bridge damage known

Residents of Delta’s Westham Island still can’t drive to and from the mainland after the operators of a barge struck and damaged the island’s only bridge last week.

Delta Mayor George Harvie described the incident Tuesday as a “significant strike through a barge of significant size.”

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With the extent of the damage unknown, TransLink — which manages the bridge — hasn’t allowed vehicle traffic across it since.

On Sunday, TransLink spokesperson Thor Diakow told CityNews that surveys and underwater assessments of the bridge continue.

“We have to complete all that first and then draw up a new repair plan before we can commit to any kind of timeline and really figure out what needs to be fixed in order to get this bridge operable again for vehicles,” said Diakow.

On Friday, the City of Delta issued a precautionary boil water advisory for the island.

While conducting an assessment after the strike, it says crews discovered a leak in the watermain pipe that runs through the Fraser River, underneath the bridge.

The city says the advisory is only a precaution, as additional water-quality testing is performed. It says there is no confirmed contamination in the water supply.

“Westham Island Residents are advised to use only boiled or bottled water for drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing ready-to-eat foods, washing dishes, or making infant formula.”

Ian Paton, the BC Conservative MLA for Delta South, a district including Westham Island, says he’s concerned for its many farmers.

“We’re using barges, of course, to get cars and pickup trucks back and forth, but we have literally millions of dollars worth of agricultural products, potatoes and livestock and cabbage and corn, and all the different things that are grown on Westham Island that need to get to their distribution centres or to the markets every week,” Paton explained.

“They’ve got to get their crops to market, and we got to eat.”

Prior to the barge strike, Diakow says, TransLink was in the early stages of planning a permanent replacement to the bridge.

“That is still a few years away, obviously,” said Diakow.

Until then, it’s unclear when the aging bridge — a version of which has stood in place since 1909 — will see vehicle traffic again.

Meanwhile, TransLink has been operating a free, accessible shuttle service between Westham Island, Wellington Point Park and stops in Ladner.

Otherwise, the approximately 200 residents have been allowed to cross the 325 metre-long bridge on foot.