The Coquihalla in 8 Minutes
439,163
Published 2016-05-16
In 1984, construction of the first phase of the Coquihalla Highway began. The highway would eventually provide drivers with a quicker route into the interior from Hope.
The first phase, which was completed two weeks after the opening of Expo 86, was done in just 20 months. A project of this scale had never been done before in such a short time in North America.
This section of the highway was the longest stretch at 120 kilometres long. To finish on time, over 10,000 people were needed to fill all of the jobs. It was a team effort between the ministry, highway construction companies and engineering firms from around the province that brought everything together for the challenge.
Along with the second and third phases, which linked Merritt to Kamloops and to Peachland respectively, overall travel time was reduced, opening up the coastal communities to the interior of B.C.
Learn more about the construction of the Coquihalla and see historical images here: tranbc.ca/coquihalla-30th-anniversary/#sthash.PcrB…
Quick Facts from the Construction of the Coquihalla Highway:
More than 1,000 pieces of heavy equipment worked non-stop in the summer of 1985
In total, 18 highway interchanges, 38 bridge and overpass structures, 19 vehicle underpasses and 50 pipeline crossings were built along the route.
Millions of tonnes of combined gravel, concrete, asphalt and steel were used to build the road.
From top to bottom, crews experienced every single type of weather condition known to man. With a summit reaching 1,244 metres tall it wasn’t uncommon for it to be snowing at the summit and be sunny at the base.
At 300 metres long, crews built one of B.C.’s largest snowsheds to protect the highway from some of the province’s most active avalanche passes.
All Comments (21)
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Now a sequel will have to be made: The Coquihalla Gone in 8 Minutes
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Makes me incredibly proud to know that my grandfather was the lead engineer on this project. Driving the Coq always brings back memories of him
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I cycled across Canada and got my bike up to 100kph coming down it. One of my proudest moments was when I ascended it the same time a guy in a jeep did, as he passed me he gave me a fist pump in the air :) nailed it
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I worked on a section of the highway about 36km out of hope, helped install two of the armadillos that are mentioned. First real job out of high school with Cantex Construction. My father was a surveyor with the department of highways who also worked on this highway. When it was done we moved from Hope to Kamloops where he worked on the next phase.
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Wow 20 months! Thats impressive. It took 5 years to finish 1 interchange near langley
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Back in my "hippie" life of the 70's I lived in a log cabin along the old Kettle railbed at Jessica, a 9 mile walk along the logging road from Hope. All the abandoned rail stops were named after Shakespeare's plays. Living with old Clayton Morris, bless his soul, who was a cowboy from the 1930's. To me he recounted his life about hopping freight cars and living in hobo jungles from the 1920's. His was a life of hardship and loneliness but his spiritual depth taught me so much about life I hold to this day. We ate stinging nettles and wild watercress to augment a meager diet. Now that is buried under a superhighway. All life is impermanent and changes constantly. We are dust in the wind. Om Mani Padme Hum.
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I worked with my father and brother to put up the lights at many of the intersections on the highway. The Coquihalla is also featured in Discovery Channel's 'Highway Thru Hell'. We still drive the highway today!! Makes the trip from Vancouver to Kamloops 3hr 20mins from the old 5hrs+ via the Canyon.
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At the same time further east in BC, CP Rail was building the Rogers Pass project through the Selkirk Mountains, yet another large undertaking Canada can be proud of!
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Amazing work! I drove it, Its scary, but amazing. These days it takes 20 years and hundreds times the budget to plan to build a 45 km rail in Calgary!
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So they built this in 1.5 years, while with all the technological advancements of today they still can't finish a short length of highway construction just south of Port Mann Bridge for nearly a decade now.
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This same project today would take 20 years instead of 20 months. If it could get approved at all that is. After they consulted with every “group” and formed a committee about every decision. We used to be able to get shit done!
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Its soo great highway and made journey soo easy . i am truck driver and its the best highway for driving. soo beautifull view and good road. Thanks all the great workers and great minds those who built this awesome highway.❤️❤️
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Left out the best part...installing the concrete pylons on a 45-50 degree slope using a chopper. They had to cut back the snow so the rotor blades could just fit on the landing spot. The pylons support a cable which delivers charges to clear snow before it can avalanche onto the highway. Amazing video I was given to watch as we were supporting the highway build with special forecasts. we meaning the Canadian weather service!
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That is incredible and just goes to show what can be achieved when people have a goal , put their minds and hearts into it and work together. I love the verse in proverbs..Where there is no vision , the people perish. Without vision there is no purpose or raison d'être ( reason for being) . People that built that must be proud of their work for sure.
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I worked for the Ministry in the paving branch out of the Dawson camp in 85.Great crew originally from Parksville
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Anyone else ever join the Coquihalla Caravan before this highway was built? Was an amazing day trip. Dirt road, natural rock bridge... great memory.
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❤Such a Beautiful highway to drive ! What an accomplishment for the 1986 Expo ! Congratulations ! ❤
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The Weather Channel has been running a series on TV titled "Highway Thru Hell" which involves three tow truck operating companies the service the Coquihalla .This is the first time that I heard of the roadway and thought that it is fictional. Evidently it's real.
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Love driving this in summer. The bank of the road is designed to maintain your speed of 120km... never have to slow for a curve. And the view of the mountain peaks is amazing. But then there is winter driving and crawling at 30km in a blizzard praying you make it out alive. Now the Coq is broken. 5 major bridges destroyed, 20 major sections washed away from the Nov 2021 catastrophic floods. If only we could teleport these amazing engineers and skilled highway construction crews from 1985 to 2022.
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This is so impressive. I used to fish the dry fly in the Coquihalla river. I watched as they slowly built the the highway more and more each trip.And then just before Expo 86 they rammed the road thru. I returned to a favorite spot and found the whole area flattened,huge earth moving machines,a backhoe picking away in the middle of the river,which ran thick with mud. A superintendant waving his arms directing his workers. This project was going to show how industry and the fish in the river were compatible and that both, would thrive. And how did the project work out,you might ask,for the beautiful synchronicity of man's loving relationship with nature and it's priceless steelhead? Why, the Coquihalla River Steelhead are extinct of course. They murdered the river and it's fish.A perfect example of mankind's triumph over the natural world.
