The fact that Fifth Street Bridge is the second in Chatham within the past few months to have its capacity reduced shouldn’t unduly concern residents said Adam Sullo, Chatham-Kent’s director of engineering and transportation.
Last week, load restrictions of 10/18/25 metric tonnes (for various axle sizes) were placed on the Fifth Street span, placing it roughly at about half its capacity.
The limit was placed after a visual inspection showed deck deterioration as well as corrosion and thinning on a significant amount of the structural steel.
“I expected a load posting, but not quite as significant as that,” Sullo said.
Fifth Street has the lowest use in Chatham at 9,500 vehicles per day. Only two per cent of the traffic (198 vehicles per day) is considered heavy truck traffic.
The bridge was on the municipality’s assessment list for 2017 as part of its 10-year plan.
Last June, the Parry Bridge on Keil Drive was reduced to a nine tonne limit, however, last month the municipality upped the load posting for the bridge to 18/28/36 metric tonnes.
“We were able to make some repairs for only $14,900,” Sullo said. “We’ll be tendering the project in April.”
The project will take from May through October and Sullo said there will be significant lane and structural closures for up to three months.
The Keil Drive span carries 22,000 vehicles per day, making it the busiest.
Lacroix has 16,000 vehicles per day, slightly more than the Third Street Bridge that has 14,000.
Sullo said three of the community’s four Chatham spans are of the 1950’s vintage and repairs are to be expected.
“The life span of a bridge is estimated at 75 years,” he said. “As with any structure, use and weather eventually take their toll.”
He said work on the Fifth Street Bridge won’t begin until 2017 so there won’t be any overlap with the Keil Drive project.
“We need to have a class EA (environmental assessment) done by an independent firm as per provincial regulations,” he said. “That will take place this year.”
After the assessment, a firm will be hired for design work and a tender for construction will follow. The project should be completed in 2018.
Sullo said bridge design work is a specialized field and it wouldn’t make economic sense to have such a person on staff.
Currently the municipality has 18 of its 830 bridges with load restrictions. Most are on lesser-used rural roads with the exception being the Victoria Line Bridge that crosses the Thames River at Thamesville.
Last year, the Thamesville bridge saw a quarter of a million dollars in temporary repairs to keep the bridge open until more comprehensive repairs can be undertaken.
The municipality is required to have visual inspections of each of its bridges of nine meters every two years.
“A big part of our role is in asset management,” Sullo said. “With 3,000 kilometres of roads, 800 plus bridges and thousands of kilometres of culverts, we’re in a constant state of evaluation to make sure we catch issues early and take action as soon as possible if problems arise.”
Although he doesn’t have an estimate for repair costs, he said the municipality has received $2 million under the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund for repairs to the structure. That money must be spent by the end of next year.
