Fibreglass bridge via Guardian Bridge Company Fibreglass bridge via Guardian Bridge Company
Chatham

Local farmers push for bridge alternatives

If the Kent Federation of Agriculture has its way, we could see more fibreglass bridges across Chatham-Kent.

During the federation's annual meeting last week, the group heard from two companies that specialize in alternatives to concrete bridges.

Crawford Dewar from Guardian Bridge Company explained that epoxy fibreglass composite bridges weigh up to 75 per cent less than reinforced concrete and is immune to corrosion, water ingress and de-icing materials.

"The durability is well over 100 years," he said. "A typical concrete bridge will require some sort of maintenance or some sort of program in about 25 or 30 years... The return on investment on fibreglass composite is simply put. A concrete bridge will fatigue in about 2 million cycles. We took our bridges to 22 million cycles and there was no fatigue."

Dewar showcased some of the multiple examples of fibreglass bridges Guardian Bridge Company has built across the country, varying in size and use. According to Dewar, bridges made of fibreglass are able to be built in days and weeks instead of months and cost a fraction of the price to install.

Former Kent Federation of Agriculture (KFA) president Ron Faubert said that bridge alternatives have been on their radar for quite some time.

"We have probably been working on these areas and these ideas for about eight years...we've been extensively trying to move forward with these ideas through Chatham-Kent council and through engineering and infrastructure as opportunities to save money, to be able to do a lot more with the funding that we do have so that we don't get into situations where were closing bridges and roads in the municipality."

FKA members also heard from representatives Atlantic Industries Limited, a company that specializes in buried steel bridges, which boasts many of the same advantages as fibreglass including cost efficiency and time-saving measures.

"Buried structures have been around for a long time," said Ryan Knee. "There are lots of them all over Ontario, right now there's about 312...lots up in Northern Ontario. The main reason for that is transportation costs. We can supply a lot of plates that make up these bolted structures on a single truck. If we were trying to do it with a competitive concrete box for a larger structure, it may take 20 or 30 trucks to get it to site. We can do it on one or two."

Faubert said in the hopes of lowering costs and expanding infrastructure lifestyles, it was important for the KFA to bring the guest speakers in to educate members on some outside-the-box options.

"It's hard for them to listen to us all the time saying 'we found this, we're exploring this.' We wanted [the speakers] to share their ideas with our crowd as well."

Several councillors were on hand for the meetings to hear about the alternative bridge ideas as well as a representative from Chatham-Kent's Economic Development department. According to Dewar, Guardian Bridge Company has hit some roadblocks when trying to apply for Chatham-Kent infrastructure projects in the past. However, Councillor Mary Clare Latimer said council is open to learning more about the possibilities that were presented.

"Right now we are very much asking and requesting our engineering department to consider alternatives," she said.

Faubert said after the meeting, he's optimistic about what the future will bring for infrastructure in CK.

"We heard from some of the councillors loud and clear that they're very interested in exploring this. This is our objective. Let's get the information out, let's make the contacts, let's bring this together so that we can benefit in Chatham-Kent," said Faubert.

Read More Local Stories