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DEH CHO
The Department of Transportation is spending approximately $3.5 million to replace five culverts and install a bridge on Highway 1 north of Fort Simpson.

The Department of Transportation is replacing five culverts on Highway 1 north of Fort Simpson that have reached the end of their lifespans. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

Work on the highway began in early July and is expected to be finished in mid-September.

The culverts have reached the end of their lifespans and are being replaced before they fail, stated Peter Praetzel in an e-mail.

Culverts have a lifespan of approximately 35 years, said Praetzel, a project manager with the structures section of highways under the Department of Transportation.

Replacing the culverts has involved digging across the width of the highway and creating small bypass lanes for traffic along the side of the road at each site.

The five culverts are located within 15.8 kilometres of each other beginning at kilometre marker 526.

The new culverts have diameters ranging from 1.8 metres to 3.4 metres.

The sections of the highway with the new culverts will be wider and allow for safer travel, said Praetzel.

Closer to Wrigley, at kilometre marker 602, a sixth culvert is being replaced with a 14-metre bridge at a cost of $728,486, which is included in the $3.5 million.

The existing culvert is an arch pipe, which isn't as strong as a round pipe, said Praetzel.

The site is being converted to a bridge because there isn't enough ground-cover to develop a soil arch over a round pipe and a hydrologist's report showed the existing structure was too small to be a fish passageway.

Acting Chief Albert Moses of Pehdzeh Ki First Nation said he's aware of the work that is being done on the highway, but is more concerned about the overall safety of the road.

"It's bad," said Moses while describing the highway's condition between Fort Simpson and Wrigley.

Moses said he expects the road conditions to get worse as Enbridge Pipelines Inc. begins to remove contaminated soil by truck from its pipeline spill site near Willowlake River.

The removal of some of the soil was scheduled to begin on July 13.

"A lot of people are worried about the traffic," he said.

The First Nation has suggested to the department that the highway be watered daily to keep down dust that could be potentially dangerous for motorists.

Moses said the replacement of the culverts has caused few concerns, except for last week when a transport truck got stuck on one of the bypass lanes, thereby blocking traffic and causing some residents to miss the ferry while on their way back to the community.

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