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Bridge completion delayed to 2011
Andrew Livingstone Northern News Services Published Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Andrew Gamble, project manager for the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation said the project delay is because of changes to the structure, which has put a hold on construction of the bridge itself. "It's pushed the whole thing," Gamble said "The foundations will be completed by the end of this season, but the structure itself should have begun erection this summer or fall, at least parts of it. It simply won't be ready, likely, until next spring." The $5.5 million, which would be interest accumulated because repayment on the borrowed money to build the bridge begins in 2010, will come out of the contingency fund set up to cover any extra costs on the project. Gamble said he hopes interest made on the borrowed money currently sitting in their bank account will help offset the additional costs. The fund is included in the $165 million price tag. Michael McLeod, minister of Transportation, told Yellowknifer in early June that $3 million had already been spent from the fund, used to cover any unforeseen costs or construction delays. When asked about what happens if the fund runs dry, Earl Blacklock, spokesperson for the Department of Transportation said they didn't want to speculate on a "hypothetical situation." Gamble said he hopes for the bridge to be completed by fall 2011, but said they still need to sit down with ATCON Construction to go over changes to the structure design, which could bring change to the cost and time line for completion. The projected date for the bridge to open to traffic was previously late 2010 "They're not major changes," he said of the design. "If you look at a picture you won't be able to tell the difference. It'll look, to the average person, it won't look any different." Changes to the cost are expected, but Gamble said the design team has indicated costs could be reduced. "We hope there is some significant offsets from carrying the cost," he said of a hope the fabrication costs will go down when they meet with ATCON to discuss design changes. "We know the price of material has trended down rather than up in the last couple years. So when we sit down with our contractors we'll have that stuff in mind." Reported earlier this month, primary contractor ATCON Construction, based out of Miramichi, N.B., was in contract dispute with sub-contractor Ruskin Construction. Ruskin was hired by the corporation to complete the concrete piers, signing on late last week. A work stoppage early in the construction season caused by an undisclosed dispute between the two parties prompted the corporation to take action. "Because of the contract dispute between the two, we had to step in to make sure the work continued," Gamble said. "So Ruskin is now working directly for us instead of ATCON." He said there are provisions in the contract for the corporation to take work from the primary contractor if they aren't able to do it. "There is a process of resolving (this kind of dispute) but it's time consuming and because of the nature the work stopped and we couldn't tolerate a stoppage," he said. The Transportation Department held a briefing Tuesday afternoon to go over the new schedule for the bridge completion and design changes. Gamble confirmed at the briefing that Rowe's Construction is no longer working on the project and the earthwork left to be done will be tendered out to another Northern company. He said they expect the tender to be out soon. Calls to ATCON were not returned by press time.
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