Work will begin work in late summer on a US$54 million replacement bridge for a 72-year-old crossing of the Athabasca River in western Canada.
The existing two-lane 277m-long bridge, which carries provincial Highway 813, was built in 1950 and includes a wooden plank deck. It has three rivet-connected polygonal Warren through truss spans and two pony truss approach spans with a main span of 62.5m.
The new bridge will include two 3.7m-wide lanes with 1.8m-wide shoulders on either side as well as a pedestrian sidewalk. It will be located north of the old bridge which will be demolished when the new one opens in 2025. The contract also calls for around 1km of road realignment.
Alberta-based Alberco Construction is the main contractor.
“It’s been a long time coming and the news that the project will commence starting this fall is very welcoming,” said Robert Balay, mayor of Athabasca, a town of around 3,200 located 140km north of the provincial capital Edmonton.
Alberta recently started construction of another wildlife overpass, adding to the already largest number of such structures anywhere in the world.
