In regard to this item, I requested the Minister of Transportation to give me a breakdown on the age of the culverts on the Dempster

Highway. The report that got back showed that the majority of culverts on this stretch of highway were installed in 1973. Again, they are 37-year-old culverts, and we are starting to see that corrosion is happening in these culverts. I think this is probably not the first culvert that you are going to see collapsing on this road system. I think that the government has to ensure that we do a literal test of our culverts to make sure that this doesn’t happen.

I know for a fact that there was a collapse in the culverts when they were building the Dempster Highway at Rengleng River, where they went to similar culverts as this one that collapsed. Those are similar types of culverts that were put in at the same time, and I think it is important that we take a look at those culverts too. That is a major cost to this government to replace them.

Also, if we have an emergency like we had in this case, to have the road totally shut down because there is no means to put an access route around that major crossing, especially around the Rengleng River, again, this shows that the age of those culverts is a threat to the public. I believe we have to replace them, hopefully sooner than later.

I would like to ask the Minister of Transportation what they are doing to replace the rest of the culverts on this part of the Dempster Highway.