DEH CHO - The Deh Cho Bridge Corporation and its engineering team are doing design work following a review of the Mackenzie River bridge's design plans.

The April 2009 report, prepared by the territorial government's advisers - engineering firms BPTEC in Edmonton and T.Y. Lin International in San Francisco - called the bridge "unconventional" multiple times.

The more than 100 recommendations include smaller details like welds not being shown in adequate detail, to larger issues like questions about the bridge's minimum effective temperature - currently tested at -43 C, when designs called for -60 C - and insufficient plans in launching the bridge superstructure.

"It is common practice for cable-stay bridge plans to show a feasible means of construction. The plans of the Deh Cho Bridge do not do this because they imply that the trusses can be launched without temporary piers, a launching nose, a temporary system of stays or some other system," page 22 of the report states.

It later stated, however, "assuming that it can be satisfactorily launched, we believe the bridge is otherwise constructible."

Concerns were raised in the legislative assembly last session over the fact the bridge had yet to have its final design approved, even though nearly $40 million had already been spent on the project. The design plan must pass rigorous tests to meet the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code.

Kevin McLeod, deputy minister of Transportation, wrote in the review: "the GNWT and their advisors do consider the bridge to be complicated and somewhat unconventional and therefore requires significant extra care and attention, with respect to: dedicated services of a properly qualified and experienced design engineering team to see the project to completion; extremely accurate drawings (including shop drawings); high quality fabrication process; thorough testing of the components that require testing; clear, concise and precise quality management programs; well managed construction and erection crews; and thoroughly detailed erection schemes and work procedures."

When contacted, engineer-of-record Jivko Jivkov referred all questions to Gamble.

Gamble said "unconventional" was a "loaded word."

"Perhaps 'unusual' or 'not common' is better than unconventional. Frankly, cable-stayed type or suspension bridges are not very common."

"Our design team has looked at all those issues and has made some proposals conceptually, which include the launchability (issue)," said Gamble.

"The concepts have been presented to us and to the government and their advisors and our design team is proceeding now. There is a lot of detailed work to do. There is a lot of calculation and drawing changes to be done to incorporate these modifications," said Gamble, who added the design work could take months.

"We are quite satisfied with what they are proposing the inclusions will not increase the price."

He said what was important was getting the government to approve their design, and having the final design approved under the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code.

In a breakdown provided by Gamble, the bridge's overall budget is $170 million.

The GNWT is the guarantor for $165.4 million, while the remaining equity stake comes from the bridge corporation - a group partnership between the hamlet, Metis and First Nations organizations of Fort Providence - and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

Transportation department spokesperson Earl Blacklock recently told News/North while department officials have no reason to believe the bridge will go over its maximum cost, if it did, the government would cover the amounts, which would then be billed back to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation.

The bridge corporation could then use a percentage of the toll profits generated from commercial traffic to repay the government, according to Michael Vandell, who was re-elected president of the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation on June 16.

Portions of profits from tolls on commercial traffic crossing the bridge will go to the corporation to benefit the community.

Vandell explained the corporation is only allowed to collect a certain percentage of profit from the tolls, without specifying the percentage.

If the bridge exceeded its maximum cost, the government could increase its share of amounts collected from the tolls.

The government will contribute approximately $4 million over the next 35 years to pay off loans taken out to construct the bridge, but this will mostly be recovered through money formerly dedicated to servicing and maintaining the ferry and ice bridge.