The Lord Selkirk Bridge in Wallaceburg won’t be opening back up until at least next week.
Stephen Jahns, manager of infrastructure and transportation, said he is anticipating Tuesday August 19, for the re-opening.
“This date is dependent upon what exactly we encounter once work commences and overall weather conditions in the coming days,” Jahns said. “The Lord Selkirk Bridge has been temporarily closed to vehicular traffic due to condition issues identified at the south approach/landing of the structure. Engineering and Public Works are working diligently to temporally address these issues and re-open the structure to traffic when it is prudent and safe to do so.”
Jahns said the issues at the Wallaceburg bridge are similar to what was experiences in Chatham recently.
“The issue we are correcting is similar to issues recently experienced, and addressed, at the Parry Bridge on Keil Drive over the Thames River in Chatham, that is, deterioration of the ballast wall at the north abutment/landing,” Jahns said. “Although a seemingly small pothole, this is an indication of material loss behind the abutment due to deterioration of the ballast wall and subsequent loss of the underlying road base material.”
Jahns said the Lord Selkirk Bridge is within the Hwy 40 Connecting Link and was formerly subsidized on a “case-by-case basis” under the former Connecting Link Program.
“For this reason, Chatham-Kent is communicating closely with the MTO as to the issues and corrective actions,” Janhs said. “We will be discussing with the MTO face-to-face next week at the AMO conference.”
Jahns said the structure does currently reside within the Municipalities 10-year work plan and is slated for $2.5 million of rehabilitation in 2017.
“This work may need to be advanced/reprioritized due to the rate of deterioration of key elements,” he said. “Any such updates will be provided to council as to any implications to funding. A more detailed inspection of the structure will be coordinated in the coming weeks.
Jahns also provided us with some background information on the Lord Selkirk Bridge:
– Twin leaf bascule bridge
– Replacement value of approximately $ 20,400,000 ($ 20.4M)
– Originally constructed in in the late 40’s. (1946 / 1947)
– Annual average daily traffic = 20,000 vehicles
– Rehabilitation / repair contracts in 1974, 1975, 1990, 1998, 2010, 2012
– Last inspected – 23 November 2013
