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Highway 86 south of Amberley may be closed until spring Those hoping to see an end to the detour on Highway 86 between Highway 21 in Amberley to Highway 7 may be waiting a while. Reports have been surfacing that the problem plagued repair job on the 18 Mile Bridge, about five minutes east of Amberley, was at least ten weeks behind before the accident and will not likely be finished before winter sets in, possibly leaving motorists to travel smaller roads through the winter driving season. Huron-Kinloss public works superintendent Hugh Nichol indicated in an interview just days before the mishap, (on about Nov 8), that he was concerned that if the work was not completed soon, it may have to wait for the warmer weather, possibly the spring of 2008. He said he was hoping the deck would be poured within a week, as there was a 21-day wait time once the deck was poured before the bridge could be subjected to vehicle traffic. As well, crews still needed time to build and pour the ramps leading to and from the bridge, along with the building shoulders, rails, etc, to make the bridge safe for public use. On Sat, Nov 10, while workers were attempting to pour the deck, the forms and scaffolding used to hold the wet cement gave way, causing as much as 500 tonnes, (one-million pounds) of cement and debris to drop into the 18 Mile River bed. At this point, no one wants to lay, or accept blame for the accident. Officials say however that the workers were pouring the concrete under ideal conditions on the 260-cubic-meter, 60-foot, two-lane deck. The original concrete bridge was built in 1949, but was deemed to be in poor condition and in need of replacement. Contracting company Allen-Hastings Limited of Chesley was doing the work. At a meeting of Huron-Kinloss council in Aug, Nichol reported to council that the crew ran into demolition difficulties and that, “It was a little more difficult than they thought it would be.” The following month, Allen-Hastings requested an extension on the deadline and the request was sent to the Bruce County Highways Committee. The bridge was set to be finished late September-early Oct 2007 and the company in charge of the construction portion of the project has been paying $500-per-day in penalties for each day the bridge is past deadline to re-open the road. The company faced a penalty of $1,000-per-day once the Oct 1 deadline was passed, however the committee gave them a break and in Sept, decided to only charge them $500-per-day. As for the $700,000 price tag, Twolan told council on Nov 5 that Bruce County chose the best tender price and did not expect the delays. The $500-per-day penalty is said to be being deducted from the $700,000. Nichol told council at the same Nov 5 meeting that, "Things are starting to get serious. The project is three months behind schedule,” and the contracting company has never had a job of this size before. Huron-Kinloss Mayor Mitch Twolan has been quoted as saying he expects further inquiries by officials from the Ontario Ministry Environment and Fisheries and Oceans Canada and that it’s likely the bridge will remain closed for at least the next several months. He said he doesn’t know if the bridge will be rebuilt by next summer, as it depends on the Ministry of Labour. Engineering firm B-M Ross and Associates of Goderich is in charge of the engineering portion of the bridge project. Media reports have them saying that the mishap had nothing to do with them. Reports quote one of the firm’s owners, Andrew Ross, as saying that they had nothing to do with the mishap and that the collapsed scaffolding was not his company's fault, although his firm was hired to design the new bridge, oversee its construction and ensure it was built properly. He said that the building the scaffolding was the responsibility of the contractor, Allen-Hastings Limited. At this point, there is still no word on who’s to blame from officials from the Ontario Ministry of Labour, nor is it known what environmental effects the rubble in the river may cause, or what may happen if there is a large rain storm or snow melt, should snow occur before the mess is cleaned up. The highway is used by many to travel from Highway 21 at Amberley, to eastern parts of the township and to get to major centres such as Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto, Guelph, Cambridge, etc. It may be some time before officials can determined when construction on the bungled bridgework could continue, let alone when traffic can be restored. Bruce County Highways staff will work with the Ministry to clean up and stabilize the site. Read related stories Investigation into bridge mishap continues Accident at 18 Mile Bridge site |
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