ERIN – Town council has agreed to spend $300,000 (plus HST) on a pre-fabricated concrete bridge, footings and wing walls for the Station Street dam in Hillsburgh, while it seeks approval to actually proceed with the project.
Road superintendent Gregg Delfosse said the move was initially planned when the town was at risk of losing a $1.5 million grant if it did not spend it on the project this year.
An extension has now been granted, but Chris Clark from Triton Engineering said the pre-fabricated structure is still a good idea since it will allow for a quicker installation – within the June 15 to Sept. 15 window when work in the river is allowed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.
Clark said it could lead to quicker approval by avoiding additional environmental questions from Credit Valley Conservation.
The new structure will have a 12.1-metre span, and a width of about 10.5 metres, considerably larger than the 1917 bridge it is replacing. It will be designed to accommodate a water main, a wastewater sewer and a natural gas line.
Delfosse said the firm Decast is the only manufacturer in the vicinity that can readily produce this type of structure within the timeframe and recommended the company be contracted.
He said the purchasing bylaw allows council the option of a single-source purchase without an open tender process when “an unforeseeable situation of urgency exists, and the goods and/or services cannot be obtained in time by means of open procurement procedures.”
