Morinville town council has tapped some surplus cash to help fix a bridge damaged by a Sturgeon County grader.
Morinville councillors voted June 14 to put $120,000 toward repairs of the Little Egg Creek Bridge on East Boundary Road.
The bridge was damaged May 11 after it was struck by a Sturgeon County grader, knocking the bridge’s deck girders out of alignment, council heard from infrastructure services manager Jordan Betteridge. Town staff temporarily closed the bridge to assess the damage; the bridge was open but limited to a single lane as of June 14.
The assessment found that in addition to the damage caused by the collision (which Sturgeon County will pay to fix), the 55-year-old bridge also had numerous substructural problems, including deteriorated piles and shoring, council heard. Unaddressed, those problems will require regular monitoring by the town and a complete replacement of the bridge in about five years for about $500,000.
Betteridge said council could instead pay Sturgeon County to fix the substructure issues this year while the county repaired the bridge’s girders, lowering costs and extending the bridge’s life by up to 15 years. Cash for the substructure work would come from road rehabilitation program, which is under budget.
Betteridge said this bridge is an important part of the town’s transportation network, as drivers would have to take a nine-kilometre detour if it were to break.
Betteridge said the county is expected to complete these bridge repairs sometime this year.
