Gold Brook bridge damage during November 2021 rain event resulting in a $12 million hit to Canadian taxpayers

Highland River Watershed
Jan 23
2 min read

For the sake of 3 loads of armour stone to repair the breakwater, the catastrophic event that occured in November of 2021 could've been prevented. An individual driving to Margaree on the evening of the rain event nearly lost her life as the bridge collapsed into the river. This occurence was the result of the river switching its course changing the trajectory of the stream. The new water course carved out of the woods directly hit the abutments of the bridge sideways, which undermined them and caused the concrete structures to collapse. This resulted in the bridge collapsing into the river.

This event underscores the shortcomings of the environmental policies currently in place by the Federal Department of Fisheries & Oceans and the Provincial Nova Scotia Department of Environment. Both agencies have shown a hands-off approach to dealing with the streams in the Highland Rivers Watershed Region. This policy mistake needs to be rectified to come in line with recent Federal initiatives trademarked "Canada Strong." Past government policies that have hurt both the Canadian economy and the environment to the detriment of Federal & Provincial taxpayers as well as the users and affected parties of the watercourses need to be changed. Turning the authority for stewardship of the watercourses back to the community in an orderly fashion is the solution. Pre the mid 1970's, as explained in the Cassandra report, witnessed the community looking after the watercourses

The article below by Tom Ayers at CBC News highlights the negative effects to businesses as well as the significant damage done to the motoring public as a result of the Gold Brook bridge collapse. As an example, a local contractor pulled a tractor trailer with a 53 foot trailer hauling lobster that was stuck in a Bailey bridge on a side road used to bypass the collapsed bridge. The contractor estimated the damage to the truck and trailer at approximately $10,000. This is only one instance of many where the motoring public experienced significant damage to vehicles because of the neglect created by a shortfall in government policies.