The new Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail will feature a bit of sway because it will include a 41-metre suspension bridge over the Goldstream River.
Hikers and mountain bikers will be welcome on the 13-kilometre trail and the bridge, slated to be open by July 2017. The trail will run between Humpback Reservoir and the Capital Regional District and Cowichan Valley Regional District boundary.
The opening dovetails with the 25th anniversary of the Trans Canada Trail and 150th anniversary of Confederation.
Although users will “feel that you are on a suspension bridge,” it will not swing significantly, said Joshua Frederick, CRD acting senior manager for environmental planning and engineering.
“This one will be quite stable,” he said Friday. That will be due to tight tension on the cables running from end to end and securing the bridge to anchors in the rock.
It will be suspended six metres above the Goldstream River.
The bridge will be 1.2 metres wide with 1.5-metre high galvanized metal meshing on the sides. The tread surface will be open aluminum mesh.
Fixed-span bridges were studied, but a suspension bridge won out because it costs less and is quicker to build and easier to maintain, said Garth Campbell, project manager for CRD parks and environmental services.
“It will become a feature for people to come and visit and enjoy nature.”
There will be a nearby viewing platform facing the waterfall at Waugh Creek, a tributary of Goldstream River.
For those who want to experience the bridge, the shortest route will be to enter at the Humpback Reservoir, where there will be some parking, and walk about 1.6 km. “It’s a beautiful hike,” Frederick said.
Trail users will pass through woods filled with fir and cedar trees, much of it second-growth. The gravel trail will be two to three metres wide with steep grades in some areas. It will wind through the forest, in a design that protects trees, Frederick said.
The land falls within Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park Reserve, which is not open to the public because of its proximity to the watershed. Fencing and security cameras will be installed to protect the watershed once the trail opens.
Total cost is expected to be $2.3 million. The Trans Canada Trail organization has chipped in with grants totalling $700,000.
Contracts will be awarded after the CRD evaluates tenders for trail and bridge construction, expected to start in July.
Plans call for the Sooke trail to connect with the Cowichan Valley Trail and Langford’s trails and streets. It is being designed to link with the Galloping Goose Regional Trail.
The bridge design is similar to Haslam Creek suspension bridge near Nanaimo, also part of the Trans Canada Trail.
