Fort Norman (July 17/06) -With bidding now closed, construction of the Great Bear River bridge will likely begin soon and Sahtu contractors can hardly wait.

Pascal Audet, owner and president of Northern Contracting, said the project is expected to provide a number of indirect sub-contracts including for his fluid hauling company, which employs up to 30 workers.

The bridge will be built outside Tulita at the confluence of the Great Bear and Mackenzie rivers.

The bridge project is part of the ongoing Mackenzie Valley winter road bridge program, said Kevin McLeod, NWT director of highways. The remaining budget for the complete program is more than $34 million, according to GNWT's most recent estimates.

"The overall NWT government strategy is connecting communities and opening up the area for resource development," he said.

Six contracts have been advertised by the Department of Transportation for the Great Bear bridge. The general construction contract has yet to be awarded, but the competition has closed.

Two bids came in for the almost half-kilometre long bridge with Ruskin Construction Ltd., based out of Prince George, B.C., sitting as the lowest, according to the GNWT website. Its bid was more than $24 million with the other interested firm, a subsidiary of Kiewit Construction in Edmonton, at more than $47 million.

"An early bid award is being encouraged," said Ruskin Construction president Andrew Purdey.

If the bid is awarded to Ruskin Construction, Purdey said the company would use the opportunity to put supplies on barges this summer.

"If a contract is awarded early, it would definitely get the ball rolling, and give us the chance to prepare ourselves," he said.

The department normally takes 30-40 days to make a decision, said McLeod.

"A decision like this is worth millions of public dollars," he said.

The barge season is quite long, said McLeod, adding the potential contractor can make arrangements with barge companies. The Great Bear River bridge should be open to traffic by 2010 according to McLeod.