Bridge repairs could prove pricey in Wellington North Township in the next five years.
K. Smart and Associates completed bridge and culvert inspections last fall and township Manager of Public Works Gary Williamson presented a summary of the inspection reports for the works committee to review.
Williamson said although overall the bridges are in reasonable condition, the engineering firm estimated the township will need to spend over $1-million over the next five years to address identified deficiencies.
Councillor Dan Yake said the report lists all bridges, locations, years of inspection, current condition and projected costs for upgrades from urgent repairs to those needed within 10 years.
“There’s quite a bit of information there,” Yake said.
Williamson also noted engineering firm BM Ross completed the inspection of the two connecting link bridges and the township has applied for connecting link funding for rehabilitation work to the steel structure of the Highway 6 bridge.
Wellington North had applied for Ministry of Transportation?funding to repair that bridge.
“It was identified by BM?Ross as getting more serious,” Williamson said.
That inspection disclosed substantial deterioration since the last check in 2007.
“They believed we should submit it, even though we might not necessarily get funding for it this year,” he concluded.
Due to other bridge projects, the MTO is not prepared to pay to fix the bridge this year and has requested a detailed assessment to assist the province in determining when such work will be done.
That assessment will be done by BM Ross this spring and the 2010 proposed budget has been adjusted accordingly.
“It sounded that if we do the study, it will go into next year’s MTO budget for funding,” Williamson said.
In addition, he noted that a bridge was hit on Sideroad 7 West.
There was a temporary repair made and the township is in contact with the person that hit the bridge to recover damages. That bridge will need substantial repairs next summer.
Yake said the bridge was damaged quite extensively just a few weeks prior to the committee meeting.
