Dear Editor,
I had the opportunity to visit the informational meeting held Jan. 26 regarding the proposed bridge.
One question I had asked was what was going to happen to the tunnel and could it not just be left in place and thus save a few million dollars on the cost to remove it. It was carefully explained to me the cost was miniscule relative to the proposed overall budget and the concern was in the event of a catastrophic earthquake the tunnel could possibly shift and compromise the integrity of the bridge abutments that are to be placed straddling the tunnel ends.
To prevent this occurrence, the two middle sections would be removed as these two are the most vulnerable as they are situated on liquefiable material and have the minimum cover of the tunnel’s six sections.
Furthermore, it was explained there was also the possibility of these middle sections breaking loose and popping to the surface. The reasoning went on to explain that if the tunnel broke up it would cause a major contamination of the river environment due to the release of the carbon monoxide that has been absorbed by the concrete structure over the last 50 some years of vehicle use. That is something I had not considered. I am now thinking about not using underground parking structures because of the health hazard.
I read with interest another letter writer, who argued that, since the bridge is being built, in part, to allow bigger ships to utilize the Fraser River, those ships should be tolled just like the motorists crossing the bridge. His suggestion of a dollar a ton seems reasonable to me.
Ralph Turner
Richmond
