Guy Quenneville
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 10, 2007
YELLOWKNIFE - Bridge proponents breathed a collective sigh of relief Nov. 30 after word came that Transport Canada had approved the construction of the Deh Cho Bridge.
"I feel really good, It's a big relief," said Andrew Gamble, project manager for the bridge.
But it's back to work for the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation.
Taking the Merv Hardie ferry across the Mackenzie River will become a thing of the past once Deh Cho Bridge construction is complete. Transport Canada approved permitting for the project Friday. - photo courtesy of George Lessard |
The first step: signing the contract with the bridge's constructor, New Brunswick-based Atcon.
"They've started doing some preparatory work," said Gamble.
"They still have to do the shop drawings for all the steel fabrication. They'll be organizing materials and equipment in New Brunswick and getting ready to mobilize."
Gamble said the bridge builders will start on building the bridge's foundations next spring after ice-out.
Until Friday, the status of the project was up in the air as Transport Canada reviewed submissions on whether the bridge's height would impede the passage of barges from oil companies interested in transporting materials from Asia to Fort McMurray.According to a project description on Indian and Northern Affairs' website, the bridge design calls for a vertical height of 22.5 metres at high water - too shallow for the barges.
Transport Canada representative Susan McLennan said the permit was approved because the potential benefits of a bridge far outweigh potential harm to shipping along the river.
She said there was "no evidence" the bridge would hamper most shipping down the river, and that alternatives exist for larger shipping modules - such as a bypass route, portages or re-engineered containers.
That is, if shipping down the Mackenzie even happens.
"More research needs to be done on whether the Mcakenzie-Athabasca route is viable," she said.
-with files from Adam Johnson
