Old bridge comes tumbling down
Emily Plihal
for Smoky River Express
The process of taking down the old Watino bridge has commenced.
Last Tuesday the destruction of the old bridge started shortly after the new bridge was ready for traffic. The new bridge was officially opened two weeks ago, much to the delight of commuters from surrounding communities.
The bridge must officially be taken down prior to March 15 to make the Environment Canada specs. If not complete, the process will be suspended until the river is once again frozen.
The official grand opening of the bridge, located on Highway 49 south of Peace River, was held on Jan. 21.
“This is a significant investment in our local highway infrastructure and great news for local communities,” says Dunvegan–Central Peace MLA Hector Goudreau. “The new design of the Watino Bridge will increase access for residents and industry to move agricultural equipment and oversized loads.”
The remaining construction work on the project is scheduled to be completed by September.
This is set to include the final layer of paving, removal of the old bridge, and minor grading work to ditches and local accesses. Speed reductions will remain in place until the paving work is complete and the transitions between the bridge and highway surface have been upgraded.
The multi-million dollar infrastructure improvement project was awarded by the province to Kiewit Management Co. based in Edmonton and began on Aug. 8 of 2007 with a targeted completion date anticipated for Oct. 15, 2009.
It is expected that the bridge will be down within the time frame that has been set.
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