The City of Dauphin owns exactly one bridge and will spend money this year to make sure the structure continues to carry traffic over the Vermillion River.
An inspection of the Buckwold Bridge conducted several years ago determined repairs to the decking of the structure are required due to delamination in the concrete and chloride intrusions to the steel reinforcement in the concrete which could cause future issues through rusting.
And recently, city council awarded a contract for engineering services for the bridge rehabilitation to the Winnipeg firm of Dillon Consulting Limited.
The $111,247.80 contract includes $58,573 for the project design and tendering phases and $52,673.80 for the contract administration, inspection, and post-construction services.
City manager Sharla Griffiths said while the initial inspection of the bridge indicated work needed to be done, it did not include the full scope of the repairs.
“They will be coming out to visually inspect it in the coming weeks barring us getting any extra snow,” Griffiths said. “Then they’ll put their visual assessment into the mix with the report that we got three years ago and determine if there needs to be any more testing. Then set the design for it and tender that to actually get the work done.”
The current plan calls for a partial depth deck replacement over the entire span of the bridge at an estimated cost of around $900,000.
And while that seems like a large number, it is a fraction of what it would cost to replace the entire structure, director of Public Works and Operations Mike VanAlstyne told council at a recent meeting.
“I think a bridge of this size it would be $12, $15, $20 million probably. If we had to do the abutments and the pier replacement and removing those piers, I could see it being upwards of $30 million,” VanAlstyne said. “We thought that this would make the best, most economical sense.
“Fortunately from the inspections, our substructure, the piers and the abutments are in okay shape. We want to get on this work now to try to get another 50 years out of this bridge.”
Part of securing that future is developing a much needed maintenance plan.
“We have maintained it just like a paved surface,” he said, adding the consultant will provide rehabilitation options complete with a life cycle costs analysis and maintenance recommendations.
“This is a huge repair and we want to make sure that our bridge is kept in the best condition possible going forward.”
