As workers were driving piles into the ground for the 10th Street bridge's foundation, the city saw an unexpected problem with a building nearby at 994 1st Avenue East according to the Owen Sound Sun Times.
"Late last week, we noticed movement in the remaining building - some foundation settlement - and we had to take some precautionary measures and increase the monitoring of the building."
Owen Sound's Director of Public Works & Engineering | Dennis Kefalas
The tenants were informed that they needed to vacate the building until they could determine what caused the problem.
The problem was found to be due to sand settling under the building and a contractor is now looking into different solutions to stabilize the building.
In January 2019, Owen Sound city council approved a staff recommendation for the city to buy the building at 95-99 10th Street East which is next to the bridge. This way the building can be demolished to accommodate the new bridge's foundation.
The council received a report that the under-structure of the former bridge went into the foundation of the building. Replacing the bridge with the building still standing would have presented more problems. Therefore, the building was demolished late last year.
The city of Owen Sound successfully applied for $3 million from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation's Connecting Links fund. This will help to cover the cost of the project. The program requires that the work be finished by March 31, 2021.
The following work has already been completed:
- Addressing detours
- Signage and traffic control
- Finishing water main modifications
- Demolishing and removing the old bridge
- Driving piles for the foundation
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the $8.7 million bridge replacement's schedule. The number of crews working at the site have been reduced from two to one.
The current phase involves completing the foundation for the new structure. After that, the next milestone will be installing the bridge girder and then the bridge superstructure.
They are still moving ahead but are taking extra precautions because of the COVID-19 with self-distancing, etc.
Even though certain construction has been shut down, essential construction such as hospitals, roads and bridges will continue.
Last week, the Ontario government extended to May 12 the provincial emergency declaration that includes an order to close all non-essential workplaces in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.
DataBid is currently reporting on this project - Owen Sound 10th Street Bridge Replacement (0056051419)
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