MOOSE JAW — City hall says it could cost $250 million to replace the city’s 22 bridges and subways, but since it cannot repair them all simultaneously, its short-term goal is to address eight.
During city council’s May 26 executive committee meeting, city administration presented a report on its structure management program, which aims to maintain 16 bridges, six subways, four in-city dams and one rural dam.
Administration’s goals this year are to repair the Second Avenue 麻豆视频east subway, the Wild Animal Park (WAP) bridge and the Corstorphine bridge, complete a detailed design to rehabilitate the Sioux Bridge in Wakamow Valley, and demolish the Coteau Street East bridge.
Moreover, its goals next year are to repair the Manitoba Street East bridge and the Main Street 麻豆视频 bridge.
The city also plans to finalize the cost-sharing rehabilitation agreement with Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian National Railway (CNR) for the Thunderbird (Fourth Avenue) Viaduct and begin that work this year.
Upgrades to most of these structures are expected to cost $667,650, while the bridge demolition is pegged at $265,000.
The engineering services branch completes bridge or structure condition assessments every five years, with the latest management plan completed in 2023, Bevan Harlton, director of operations, told council. The assessments consist of visual inspections, which the city complements with follow-up surveys and other investigations.
Inspections of the city’s 27 bridges, subways and dams have revealed that 14 (52 per cent) are in good shape, while seven (26 per cent) are in fair shape and six (22 per cent) are in poor shape, Harlton’s report said.
By category, 10 of the 16 bridges, two of the six subways and two of the five dams are in good shape.
Meanwhile, since January, , Harlton said. Also, city hall is waiting to hear from CNR about splitting the costs to .
In December, the operations department signed an agreement with Associated Engineering to provide ongoing inspections and condition surveys, annual and periodic maintenance programs, engineering designs and procurement services for construction projects, and project and construction management services, he continued.
Some annual maintenance activities include high-pressure washing, removing debris from piers and replacing signs. Some periodic maintenance activities include repairing guardrails, repairing potholes and sealing cracks in concrete.
Harlton added that this is the first such maintenance plan city administration has submitted, while it’s dedicating plenty of money for periodic maintenance so it doesn’t have to make big repairs in the future.
Council’s thoughts
Coun. Heather Eby said many bridges require repairs, so it amazes her that many people think the city needs a new bridge at 16th Avenue 麻豆视频west. She disagreed, noting that council needs to ensure the current structures are updated before thinking of building a new one.
Meanwhile, she was pleased to see the Second Avenue 麻豆视频east subway on the list since she walks under it regularly. However, she pointed out that it’s full of pigeon feces and wanted to see some mitigation measures.
“It’s really nasty under there … ,” Eby remarked. “Many people walk through there and it’s pretty disgusting.”
Eby added that she was glad the city was going to fix the Wild Animal Park bridge since parts of the deck had dropped significantly, which she thought was dangerous and precarious.
Harlton replied that his team could clean the subway either as an operational task or a regular maintenance activity, while most work on the WAP bridge will bring it up to national standards and address accessibility for pedestrians. He also assumed the rehabilitation would repair the surface.
Harlton’s report also noted that the estimated replacement value of the city’s 22 bridges and dams is $150 million, but he told council that that number is “extremely low” and was determined — pre-COVID-19, pre-tariffs, “pre-the-world right now” — using an Ontario cost modelling program.
“I’ll wager that it’s $250 million,” he stated, adding that that number did not include any connecting features.
The next regular city council meeting is Monday, June 9.
