Tender Awarded for Repairs to the Placentia Lift Bridge

Land & Sea Welding Limited has been awarded a contract valued at approximately $1.7 million to perform repair work on the Sir Ambrose Shea Bridge in Placentia.

“I am very pleased to award this tender and begin the repairs that will extend the service life of the bridge until we can replace it,” said the Honourable Tom Hedderson, Minister of Transportation and Works. “By engaging in these repairs and making substantial improvements to the road around the bridge, we are ensuring the transportation links in the region will meet the social and economic needs of residents until a new multi-million dollar bridge is established.”

Land & Sea Welding Limited will perform deck reinforcement work. As part of efforts to keep the lift 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. This work will restore the load capacity of the bridge to 25,000 kilograms for tandem vehicles and 37,000 kilograms for combination vehicles.

“Getting this bridge repaired quickly, and with as little inconvenience as possible, is a priority for this government,” said the Honourable Felix Collins, Minister of Justice and MHA for Placentia - St. Mary’s. “I look forward to the completion of the repairs, and to moving forward with a tender for the construction of a new bridge.”

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 05 09             10:20 a.m.