9 November 2010

Rotting Bridge Will Undergo
$350,000 Repair

Red Deer Alberta - A rotting historic bridge in Red Deer County will get a repair job.
 
County council unanimously approved spending up to $350,000 on the 98-year-old Mintlaw Bridge, a former Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. span across the Red Deer River, about eight km southwest of the City of Red Deer.
 
Evan Bedford, the county's engineering co-ordinator, said on Tuesday that the east and west approach piers on the bridge are rotting away. Engineers estimate the west girder sections of the bridge have sunk about 60 cm. There is a concern that if the sag continues, enough pressure could be put on the structure to make the bridge a write-off.
 
Even a heavy snow load could cause the bridge to move further out of alignment.
 
Engineers are recommending that the wooden pier that is slowly collapsing be replaced with a steel version. The work would be done this winter when access routes are frozen, Bedford said.
 
The east end of the bridge is not as badly damaged and could be repaired at a later date.
 
The cost of fixing the bridge was estimated at $250,000 for the actual repairs and $62,000 for engineering work. To allow for additional costs, staff recommended $350,000 be allocated from the county's contingency budget.
 
The county bought the bridge from CPR in December 2009 for $1 and assumed responsibility for it.
 
Councillor George Gehrke has recently checked out the bridge and was amazed at how much has crumbled away.
 
"It's very sad to think we could possibly lose this," he said. Maintaining the bridge would preserve a historical resource and allow it to be connected to a trail system later.
 
The cost of updating the bridge enough to allow cyclists and pedestrians to use it safely is estimated at $2.1 million. That would provide a new deck, railings, pier repairs, and new spans at each end to reconnect the bridge to the banks on either side. No decision has been made on that work.
 
Forth Junction Heritage Society president Paul Pettypiece attended the council meeting and came away pleased.
 
"Of course, I'm thrilled. Anything that helps preserve that bridge is good by me."
 
It's not surprising that some upkeep is needed on the bridge, he said. "The last train was in 1981, which means there's been virtually no maintenance on that bridge since then."
 
The society is dedicated to preserving Central Alberta's rail and transportation heritage. The group has proposed a children's theme park and transportation in Red Deer's Riverlands area. It also looking at creating another attraction somewhere in the county featuring replicas of historic rail stations and a railway park, among other features.
 
Paul Cowley.