The Murray Street Bridge in Wallaceburg will be getting some much-needed upgrades.
The $1.9 million contract, which was routinely approved by council during Monday night's meeting, has been awarded to a company based out of Hamilton.
Built in 1974, the bridge runs over the Sydenham River and allows access to both boats and vehicular/pedestrian traffic.
However, recent site inspections have identified several conditional and operational issues that need to be addressed in order to extend the structure's life expectancy and maintain public safety.
The project includes removing and replacing the specialized coating on the bridge deck and sidewalk, concrete repairs, repairing mechanical issues, as well as replacing the bridge's hardware and software.
"The contractor is required to allow the bridge to be operated to allow larger boats to pass until October 15, 2022, which is the end of the navigation season where bridge operation is required," read the report to council. "After October 15, the contractor will not be operating the bridge for larger boats but will continually provide a navigational opening of 1.5 m vertical by 3.0 m wide (or larger if possible) for smaller boats."
The bridge will be closed to vehicle traffic for four to six weeks once construction starts. After that, one lane will be reopened to vehicle traffic for the remainder of the project.
"Two detours will be in place, consisting of a detour to take the bulk of the traffic around the site," read the report. "The other detour will be mainly for local traffic."
Engineering estimates for the project were initially pegged at $1.5 million. Although the successful contractor estimated that the project will cost just over $1.9 million, the work will only move forward if the municipality is able to negotiate the cost down.
Landform Civil Infrastructure Inc. has worked across southern Ontario and was the prime contractor for Baseline Swing Bridge, Selkirk Bridge, and the Walpole Island Swing Bridge repair projects.
The project is expected to be done by the end of March of next year.