2021 Award for Road and Bridge Maintenance

The nominees for the 2021 Award of Excellence for Road and Bridge Maintenance are:

Mainroad Lower Mainland Contracting LP

• Location: Service Area 6, Lower Mainland

Mainroad Lower Mainland Contracting LP is responsible for maintaining 1,525 kilometres of roadway, including 626 major structures such as bridges, retaining walls, culverts and sign structures, and a wide array of signage.

Mainroad Lower Mainland Contracting LP provides the following roadway services in Service Area 6: road repairs and rehabilitation, traffic management (including special event and motion picture filming) and winter road maintenance. Its crew and management staff are designated first responders in the case of an earthquake or other disaster in the region.

Mainroad Lower Mainland Contracting LP provides excellent responses to winter weather events. It implemented new equipment to proactively anti-ice pathways and bridge sidewalks to support the active transportation community.

Mainroad Lower Mainland Contracting LP engaged with the public on social media, provided videos to educate and share information on highway maintenance and incorporated Indigenous community feedback into the delivery of highway maintenance and projects. In addition, Mainroad Lower Mainland Contracting LP participated in the following community initiatives: Watch for Bats, Critter Care Wildlife Society and Musculoskeletal Risk Identification in Road Maintenance.

Yellowhead Road & Bridge (Nicola) Ltd.

• Location: Service Area 14, Nicola

Yellowhead Road & Bridge (Nicola) Ltd. is responsible for approximately 3,400 kilometres of roads, 168 bridges, the Lytton Reaction Ferry system and a snowshed, managed through four yards in the communities of Merritt (Main), Lytton, Logan Lake and the Coldwater Yard near the summit of the Coquihalla Pass. It manages the main highway arterials from the Lower Mainland into the interior of B.C. and gateway to the eastern provinces, carved through high-elevation mountain passes.

Yellowhead Road & Bridge (Nicola) Ltd. proactively delivers winter maintenance services, including the Coquihalla Protocol, an in-depth management system for high intensity storms. During these events Yellowhead Road & Bridge (Nicola) Ltd. co-ordinates members from RCMP, B.C. Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement and the MOTI District Operations Team and Avalanche group, as well as resources from adjoining districts. 

Yellowhead Road & Bridge (Nicola) Ltd. has improved high mountain pass winter maintenance by increasing its fleet of equipment to meet and exceed the winter maintenance specifications. It increased patrol frequencies to maintain service during storms and emergency events.

During the 2021 wildfire season Yellowhead Road & Bridge (Nicola) Ltd. supported stakeholders and communities for evacuations, traffic control, supplies, equipment, accommodation and mechanics. Following the devastating fire in the Village of Lytton, it provided fuel and mechanical services to fire departments and their equipment. It also donated a tanker truck and pump to a remote community to use during wildfires.  

Yellowhead Road & Bridge (Nicola) Ltd. supported local Christmas parades, sponsored the Merritt Centennials Junior Hockey Club, assisted with the Merritt Rodeo Ground upgrades and assisted many Indigenous communities with winter maintenance. It also sponsored families and provided food hampers to numerous food banks in its community.

Yellowhead Road & Bridge (Nicola) Ltd. is exceptional at maintaining the highways, bridges and ferry in its service area.

Yellowhead Road & Bridge (Nicola) Ltd.

• Location: Service Area 14, Nicola