By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
After years of being closed, Wallaceburg’s walking bridge is back, but the fix came with significant cost.
According to an engineering report, rehabilitation of the L.O. Stonehouse Walking Bridge exceeded the estimate by $500,000.
When questioned at council recently about the bill, Chatham-Kent’s head of infrastructure and engineering, said costs were incurred towards the end of the project when stopping would have added to the expense.
Edward Soldo told council various deficiencies uncovered beneath the coating were “quite substantial.
“This is a very old bridge and what we found was greater than our contingency,” Soldo said, noting such expenditures normally come before council for approval.
Soldo explained staff did the best they could in an “abnormal situation.”
At the meeting, council agreed to amend the original contract for the bridge work to include an extra $480,250 on top of the original $2.3-million contract awarded in 2023, as well as an amendment of $101,700 to be added for consulting fees. The additional fees were to be covered by a transfer of $524,000 from C-K lifecycle bridge reserve funds.
The steel truss L.O. Stonehouse Memorial Walk Bridge was closed for safety reasons in 2021. Originally constructed over the Sydenham River in 1910, the bridge was rehabilitated and converted to a pedestrian crossing in 1983.
The bridge was officially reopened Aug. 9, just in time for Wallaceburg’s annual WAMO celebration.
