Placentia Lift Bridge Repairs Continue

A tender call will be issued this weekend for repairs to the Sir Ambrose Shea Lift Bridge in Placentia. Tenders will be accepted until noon Friday, April 27.

“I am very pleased to have the required analysis and design work completed so we can move ahead with repairs,” said the Honourable Tom Hedderson, Minister of Transportation and Works. “When complete, these repairs will extend the service life of the bridge, which will allow us to focus on constructing a replacement that will better suit the needs of the community.”

As part of efforts to keep the bridge open during repairs, traffic on the bridge will be reduced to one lane for extended periods. If closure of the bridge becomes necessary in the course of repairs, efforts will be made to keep such closures as brief as possible. The Department of Transportation and Works is making arrangements with the Harbour Authority of the Placentia area to finalize a schedule that will accommodate vessels during construction. Repair work will restore the load capacity of the bridge to 25,000 kilograms for tandem vehicles and 37,000 kilograms for combination vehicles.

“This bridge is both a vital piece of transportation infrastructure and an important community landmark,” said the Honourable Felix Collins, Minister of Justice and MHA for Placentia- St. Mary’s. “The bridge is a part of daily life in this region, and I am pleased to see that daily traffic will be maintained while repairs are ongoing.”

A load restriction of 13,000 kilograms will remain in place on the lift bridge while work is ongoing. Any commercial vehicle registered in excess of 13,000 kilograms is not permitted to travel over the bridge. The bridge is safe for public use provided the load restriction is observed.

To ensure compliance with this weight restriction, the Department of Transportation and Works installed a 24-hour video surveillance camera at the bridge that is capable of licence plate recognition for enforcement purposes. Service NL continues to perform spot checks of vehicle weights at the bridge while repairs are ongoing.

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2012 04 20                              10:05 a.m.