Four Mile bridge upgrades finished
New timber driving surface to last a decade
Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, October 9, 2014
FOUR MILE
Residents of Four Mile now have a stronger and smoother access to their homes as a result of recently completed work.
The Department of Transportation has completed upgrades to the bridge on the Four Mile access road in Fort Simpson, including replacing the retaining walls and the wood driving surface. - photo courtesy of John Suwala - Department of Transportation
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The Department of Transportation finished upgrades to the bridge on the Four Mile access road on Sept. 12. Four Mile consists of a small group of homes located along the Liard River, which is reached through the Wild Rose Acres subdivision in Fort Simpson.
The single lane bridge had been in service for at least 24 years and it had been 17 years since any work had been done on it, said John Suwala, the department's regional manager of highways.
Residents had raised concerns about the state of the bridge, he said.
The work that began on Aug. 22 was part of a scheduled plan.
The upgrades included replacing the bridge's metal retaining walls with wooden ones. The new walls are expected to have a 25-year lifespan. The bridge's deck was also replaced with new timber planks that have an estimated 10-year lifespan.
The original planks were 3.8 cm thick and the new ones are 7.6 cm.
"It will be more robust and it will be stronger overall," said Suwala.
"Safety is our number one priority and this bridge was already slated to have some work done on it."
Rowe's Construction had the contract to complete the work. A bypass bridge was put in place while the upgrades were underway so that there were no interruptions in access to Four Mile.
"Now the people have a very safe bridge they can cross," said Dan Quevillon, the department's regional superintendent.
The work done on the bridge is part of a larger project that will also include clearing brush along the sides of the road beginning at the top of the hill leading to Four Mile and down to the area near the houses.
The road's drainage will also be improved, Suwala said.
The brushing and critical areas for drainage are scheduled to be addressed this year while the remainder of the drainage will be completed next year.
