Fergus bridge rehab project gets more expensive

FERGUS ‒ A contractor is asking for a $100,000 “top up” to address construction safety issues jeopardizing a municipal bridge rehabilitation project. 

During a regular council meeting on Monday, township staff will ask Centre Wellington council to approve the use of an additional $140,000 from a reserve fund for the ongoing rehabilitation of Bridge 3N in Fergus.

With an initial budget of $400,000, Marbridge Construction Ltd. originally anticipated the project would cost just over $300,000. 

“Given that the project’s anticipated costs are within approved budget allocations, it is recommended that the tender be awarded,” said Adam Gilmore, manager of engineering, in the report. 

The additional funds needed will push the project over budget by $40,000. 

According to the report, Bridge 3N, located on Beatty Line, is currently being rehabilitated to “improve the structural condition of the bridge.”

The project will use a carbon fibre reinforced polymer rehabilitation system for the “complete restoration of the site to a pre-construction state or better.”

“This innovative technology will make the structure stronger as the carbon wrap goes right over the existing structure,” said Mayor Shawn Watters, in a statement on the Centre Wellington website. “(This minimizes) disruption during repair and saves significantly on installation time and costs.”

However, after starting the rehabilitation work earlier this week, the contractor was chipping and patching existing concrete on the bridge structure when he noticed that the soffits, curbs, and railings “are in a more deteriorated state than what was reported in historical inspections.” 

“As a result, bridge workers are at risk of soffit, curb, and railing elements falling down on them during the planned repair process,” said Gilmore, in the report. “These bridge elements need to be repaired prior to undertaking the planned remediation work.”

While the completion date was originally in August, the contractor now anticipates the additional scope work will take four weeks to finish and believes that the project will finish closer to the end of October. 

Beatty Line, between Sideroad 10 and Sideroad 10 will be closed to traffic during the construction period at the bridge site. 

Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.