The Department of Transportation and Public Works today announced plans to conduct repairs to the Naufrage Bridge in preparation for the opening of the 2001 fishing season.
"Much of our bridge infrastructure is ageing and staff engineers have been busy collecting data on which structures require repair across the province. Structures which required immediate attention were then identified for work this season, and Naufrage is one of them," said Transportation and Public Works Minister Don MacKinnon in announcing the work.
The bridge at Naufrage was originally constructed in 1959. The work undertaken will involve solidifying the structure by replacing the piles, pile caps and stringers. A new deck, guardrail and asphalt surface will also be installed. The project cost is approximately $400,000 and will be carried out by Callaghan Contracting of Moncton, New Brunswick. The project will begin in February and is expected to take about 6-8 weeks to complete, weather permitting. Detours will be posted to allow access to the wharf during construction and minimize inconvenience to the travelling public.
The Department of Transportation and Public Works is continuing work on developing a Provincial Bridge Reconstruction Strategy, but several details, chiefly the level of federal funding for roads, remain outstanding before it can be finalized. In the absence of a National Highways Program, the province has been forced to commit an increasing amount of its resources to making up the funding shortfall to maintain roads such as the Trans-Canada Highway. This money has come at the expense of other operations such as bridge maintenance.
"For a number of years, the Province has carried a heavy load in trying to cover off the decline in federal funding for roads. Bridges are an important part of the road network which also require attention. The need to address bridge repairs Island-wide only increases the importance of a federal reinvestment in our roads to ensure that all Islanders can continue to safely access our road network," said MacKinnon.