PUSLINCH – The Paddock Bridge on Wellington Road 35 in Puslinch has reopened.
The bridge was closed abruptly on May 12, 2023 after an engineer inspection discovered a hole in the bridge deck.
“At the time of the closure the design for the new bridge was not complete,” Wellington County’s manager of roads Joe de Koning stated in an email. “This design and tender package was expedited, and the contract for construction of the new bridge was awarded in July of 2023 to Looby for approximately $2,500,000.”
De Koning noted one challenge during construction was to ensure the integrity of the Enbridge Gas main distribution line, which runs parallel to Wellington Road 35.
“This required third party vibration testing and engineering inspections to satisfy Enbridge that the construction did not impact their vital infrastructure,” de Koning said.
The bridge re-opened to traffic on June 28. De Koning said the county worked with Puslinch throughout the project as detours forced drivers onto township roads.
