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$900,000 fix recommended for Norwich Street Bridge

One of five options considered by city staff
20170805 norwich bridge ts
Norwich Street Bridge. Tony Saxon/GuelphToday

A report heading to Guelph City Council is recommending the city spend $900,000 to fix the Norwich Street Bridge.

It calls for keeping the existing trusses that support the structure but replacing the rest.

The 135-year-old bridge, which crosses the Speed River just north of Downtown Guelph, was closed to traffic in 2003 but is still used as a popular pedestrian and cycling route.

“(The preferred option) offers the city the best opportunity to maintain the existing trusses as it preserves them in place as primarily an aesthetic feature,” reads the report.

“The new structure would be able to provide safe crossing over the Speed river and be designed to better accommodate drainage, salting and sanding of the deck and pedestrian barriers.”

Funding for the project will be requested in the 2018 budget.

It was seen as the preferred option based on cost and the ability to retain the existing design and heritage elements of the bridge.

The current bridge is in rough shape, with severe corrosion, warping and disintegrating abutments and wing walls.

The Norwich Street Pedestrian Bridge Schedule B Class Environmental Assessment recommends replacing the bridge but keeping the trusses.

Other alternatives considered were:

  • Completely replace the bridge.
  • Fix the current bridge
  • Remove the bridge with no replacement
  • Do nothing

The recommendation now goes to council’s Committee of the Whole for deliberation and discussion.

 

 


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Tony Saxon

About the Author: Tony Saxon

Tony Saxon has had a rich and varied 30 year career as a journalist, an award winning correspondent, columnist, reporter, feature writer and photographer.
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