Alberta Transportation has closed the Highway 55 detour in Athabasca and opened the bridge that will eventually cross the soon-to-be diverted Tawatinaw River.
Alberta Transportation spokesperson Jeanna Friedley said the work is progressing well on the project.
“Traffic is moving smoothly over the new bridge,” she said. “As people will notice, it is still a construction zone, and we still have some work that we’re completing on the bridge.”
Permanent line painting and pedestrian accommodation still have to be completed on the bridge.
“In the next weeks and months the contractor will be completing some channel work,” she explained. “That’s diverting the river into a new channel.”
Friedley said the bank is unstable.
“That is part of the reason we had to move the bridge in the first place.”
The slope of the valley is slowly moving, according to Friedley.
“That has impacted the current structure, so we want to make sure we don’t have any issues with the new structure,” she said. “They are going ahead and doing that diversion and creating a new channel so that we don’t have any issues with the new bridge.”
The $14.25 million project is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2013.
“However, we are very pleased that we were able to open the bridge early,” she said. “You will still see construction in that area as the contractor continues to work on that channel.”
Stage one of the project has been completed. In stage two the river will be diverted under the newly constructed bridge.
“Stage three is the removal of the existing bridge and Highway 55 overlay,” she said.
“We remind drivers to drive cautiously in construction zones at all times and that they obey all those signs and speed limits.”
There is also currently a culvert replacement underway on the east hill.
