The first repairs to the $202 million Deh Cho Bridge will continue until the end of October, with traffic reduced at time to one lane.
According to Greg Hanna, spokesperson for the territorial government's Dept. of Infrastructure, which includes transportation, the work only involves the bridge approach embankments, not the actual bridge structure itself.
“The work consists of soil nailing which in an innovative construction technique used to strengthen and stabilize embankments by inserting steel reinforcement bars into the sand,” Hanna stated in an e-mail. “This method is in use in B.C. where they have similar conditions on their roads and highways.”
Hanna stated that the slopes and embankments of any highway are inspected regularly under their protocols and preventative work is undertaken as a matter of routine.
The repairs, which began on Canada Day, are the first to the Deh Cho Bridge since it opened in 2012.
"The bridge is in excellent condition and operating as expected,” stated Hanna. “National standards for proper maintenance indicate that each year one to 1.5 per cent of the total replacement costs of the bridge should be invested on maintenance in order to preserve the investment.”
The contract for the embankment work, valued at $4.9 million was awarded to Vancouver-based GeoStabilization International. More work may need to be done next summer, according to Hanna.
He added this construction has had positive economic benefits to the Fort Providence economy.
“About 12 jobs are being filled with local residents (83 per cent on the workforce on the contract),” Hanna stated. “Crews will require accommodations, fuel food and a variety of supplies from Fort Providence.”
The total cost of to build the 1.1-kilometre long span across the Mackenzie River was $202 million. In late 2016, officials said that the bridge had taken in $17.6 million in tolls. The cost for commercial vehicles to cross the bridge ranges between $97 and $398. There were an average of 390 crossings per day in the bridge's first full year of operation and 397 per day last year.
Prior to the bridge being opened, vehicles could not cross the river for weeks at a time when the ferry did run not during ice break-up in the spring and before an ice road formed across the river in the fall.