Chignecto Isthmus map (Google)
Rising sea levels and storm surges could threaten the Chignecto Isthmus — the narrow land bridge linking New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The Trans-Canada Highway and the railway stretch across the isthmus and play critical roles in the national transportation network.
A $700,000 study has been green-lighted to find out how to protect this strip of land which will be conducted by Wood Environment and Infrastructure Solutions.
Sackville Mayor John Higham says his town along with Amherst and Cumberland County have been collaborating to make this happen.
“With a bad storm, with those one-in-a-hundred-year storms, we know that the dykes would breach. We know that the dykes aren’t high enough for some of that. So there is a strong possibility that could happen without attention,” he says.
Higham notes how Nova Scotia has been an island in the past and it is feasible it could happen again in the future.
The study is being cost-shared by the New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and federal governments.
