UPDATE: The bridge closures were cancelled for Friday night, and instead rescheduled to Monday, Feb. 25 starting at 10 p.m. and ending Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 5 a.m.
The Agassiz-Rosedale Bridge is getting some minor upgrades before its major overhaul, meaning commuters may see some delays over the weekend.
From Friday, Feb. 22 to Saturday, Feb. 23, crews will be rehabilitating the southern-most piers of the Agassiz-Rosedale Bridge. The $2.5 million project will include pile driving, stabilization and bearing replacements to make the two piers better able to withstand an earthquake.
During the bearing replacement, the bridge will be closed for two 20 minute periods between 10 p.m. Friday night and 5 a.m. Saturday morning. Drivers should expect delays and are asked to consider alternate routes.
The work on the pier is expected to be complete by March, but that isn’t the end of the construction for the bridge.
Bank armouring near the southern piers will get underway in the summer of 2019. As this work will primarily involve installing boulders along the base of the south bank, impact to drivers will be minimal.
Major construction on the Agassiz-Rosedale Bridge, however, is still in the future.
RELATED: Construction almost complete on Rosedale overhead
Construction was first announced in March 2017 as part of a $36-million project that included both the Rosedale Overhead and the Agassiz-Rosedale Bridge.
The overhead project was started in May 2017, and completed in the spring of 2018. Now, the design process for retrofits and seismic upgrades to the Agassiz-Rosedale Bridge is underway.
There is no construction timeline as of yet, although Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said the construction is expected to include multiple contracts over several years due to the size and complexity of the work. Lane closures are expected during the future bridge construction.
grace.kennedy@ahobserver.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
