One-day bridge redo draws a crowd

For Greg Flick, watching the rapid replacement of Carling Avenue’s westbound bridge Saturday night was about more than just construction: his son, Trenton, was working his first local job as an intern for the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.

“The text messages I’ve been getting are: ‘This is awesome,’ ‘This is great,’ ‘This is so cool.’ This is beyond anything he’s every dreamed of,” said Flick.

Flick, in touch with his son through text message, was able to keep those watching near him informed about what was happening during the 17-hour job.

“I haven’t got a clue about many things that are going on, but he does. When things were stalled I’d be texting him or when the guys were working on certain parts of the bridge I’d be asking him what’s going on. If he didn’t know, he’d be asking someone who did and texting me back, then I’d be telling everyone else in the audience.”

Flick said the opportunity allows his son, an engineering student at Queen’s University, to learn how to inspect bridges as well as to learn about new technologies for bridge repair and replacement. The Carling Avenue rapid replacement, a process that lifts the old bridge in two pieces before replacing it in the same manner, is right up Trenton’s alley, Flick said.

“When he took civil engineering, he knew all along that he wanted to work on bridges.”

For Flick, the replacement was a long time in the making.

“I’ve been driving back and forth for months watching them build the bridge on the side of the road, and seeing them put it in place is kind of cool.”