TINA PEPLINSKIE

tina.peplinskie@sunmedia.ca

PETAWAWA - Work on the Petawawa River Bridge will proceed this year with minimal traffic disruption.

Originally scheduled for 2011, the project was deferred by the County of Renfrew public works and engineering department until this year.

With traffic congestion issues along Petawawa Boulevard to CFB/ASU Petawawa well documented, some consideration had to be given to traffic control during construction. While a number of alternatives were considered, the recommended approach is a nominal reduction in the width of the roadway though the installation of concrete barriers at the curb and sidewalk and one lane of traffic with flagpersons except during peak traffic times when both lanes will be open. It is anticipated work will continue through the night.

The schedule could also include up to three complete weekend closures from 6 p.m. Friday night to 6 a.m. Monday morning to allow for the workers to tie in the water mains.

Pedestrian access will also be permitted on one side of the bridge for all stages of construction except weekend closures.

Delaying the project a year allowed for an extension of the project to include not only rehabilitation of the expansion joints and the parapet walls on the Petawawa Bridge, but the twinning of a water main under the west side of the structure. The decision was made to combine the projects in an attempt to reduce the impact on traffic, which is significant at certain times of the day.

The county will be responsible for the costs associated with the bridge rehabilitation while the Town of Petawawa will be responsible for the costs to design and install the water main below the bridge as well as modifications to the bridge structure to accommodate the new water main.

The county operations committee was updated on the project by structural engineer Martin Polak of Genivar, who is serving as project engineer for the bridge rehabilitation, and engineer Steve Webster of Jp2g Consultants Inc., which handles engineering for the town.

The detailed design for the project is nearing completion and it will be going to tender in the near future, county capital works manager Mike Pinet told the committee.

An inspection of the structure revealed the parapet walls are in bad shape with steel exposed in spots, so this is a good time to do the work, Mr. Polak explained during his presentation. He added that two lifts of asphalt are also missing on the bridge.

Currently there is only one water main underneath the bridge, but with the water treatment plant located on the CFB/ASU Petawawa side of the Petawawa River and only two 300 millimetre water mains providing water to the town side of the river, it has been deemed necessary to add another water main.

Aside from the water main under the bridge, the other one goes under the river downstream of the bridge, Mr. Webster explained.

Through this project, the proposal is to install an additional 300mm water main under the bridge to provide better flow to the town side of the river during periods of peak demand and also provide security in the event that one of the two existing crossings are out of service, he added.

Lane closures will be necessary to connect into the existing water main at either end of the bridge and to install hangers to attach the water main to the underside of the bridge, but the hope is to cause the least amount of disruption possible, Mr. Webster said.

The costs of resurfacing the bridge deck and reinstatement of the approaches and for traffic control will be shared between the town of Petawawa and the county.

Tina Peplinskie is a Daily Observer multimedia journalist