Old concrete slab stalls work on bridge
Mysterious, car-sized mass buried under riverbed is too big to be moved
Construction of the Valley Line LRT bridge across the North Saskatchewan River has hit a snag thanks to a partially buried concrete slab.
The car-sized piece of concrete is buried nine metres deep under the berm platform construction crews are working on, and underneath the river and riverbed itself, on the north side of the river near Grierson Hill.
Due to its size, it cannot be moved, so construction crews are forced to work around the obstruction and redesign the construction area.
“Due to the depth, and the fact that it’s not only under the water, but under the riverbed itself, was just an unforeseen event unfortunately for everybody and now we’re doing what we can to mitigate it,” Will Edeen, with TransEd, the group building the line, said Thursday.
“It’s not natural to the area, we do know that, but how it got there and why it’s at that depth is to be determined.”
TransEd has brought in several experts from around the world to develop a solution and allow for safe excavation down to the required bridge foundation depth.
“The design (of the bridge) will not change,” said Edeen.
“Where we’re encountering the obstruction, it does not touch a part of the bridge design element itself. It’s that we’re trying to establish a work area.”
The Tawatina Bridge includes a pedestrian bridge that will now be delayed by “many months” as a result. It was expected to be completed by 2019.
However, the overall construction of the LRT project is not expected to be impacted and crews expect construction to be completed on time in 2020.
There are penalties that TransEd will incur, but the cost will not be released at this time.
Overall, construction on the Valley Line is expected to ramp up.
In Mill Woods, track construction is expected to start this summer. Traffic on 75 Street will move from the east side to the west and construction on the road is expected to be completed by the end of the year. There will also be weekend closures along Whitemud Drive later this spring.
Connors Road will have lane closures starting this spring. Motorists are advised to seek alternate routes heading into downtown.
Major utility and drainage work is underway on 102 Avenue, which will remain closed. Tunnel excavations will be completed in early April.
A series of open houses will be held in communities along the track to provide updates and answer questions.
It’s not natural to the area, we do know that, but how it got there and why it’s at that depth is to be determined.