A couple of major projects are planned at the Blue Water Bridge, with the first one to get underway in the summer of 2023.
They were highlighted during the Federal Bridge Corporation's (FBCL) recent annual public meeting.
CEO Natalie Kinloch said rehabilitation work will be done on the original span. She said they're accepting tenders, and working to select a contractor.
"It will include repaving, baring replacement, paving and those kinds of very exciting things that happen with bridges," said Kinloch. "We will need to shutdown the bridge for a little bit in order to be able to do that work next summer. The following year is a broader span of work but along the same lines. It'll be a bit more elaborate and our partner, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), will also be doing extensive work on span two of the bridge to continue its health and safety. These are regular repair and capital works that keep that bridge in very top shape. It's a very important bridge to Canada and we continue to invest."
Kinloch said both projects have been made possible through support from the federal government.
She said that's important because the FBCL has expended most of its capital reserves to keep bridges operational during the pandemic.
Blue Water Bridge was also praised for the key role it played when truck traffic was blocked off at the Ambassador Bridge during February's Freedom Convoy.
"With the closure of the neighbouring Ambassador Bridge, FBCL was in the centre of a storm. Blue Water Bridge, with no advanced notice, was required to handle double its commercial traffic, and enabled the crossing of approximately 50 per cent of Canada's land border trade. For just over a week, the Blue Water Bridge became the redundancy of the transport corridor in southwestern Ontario and one of Canada's lifelines."
Meanwhile, the FBCL also discussed several key infrastructure projects that were completed at the Blue Water Bridge in 2022.
Vice President of Engineering and Construction Thye Lee said a number of improvements were made, including a new toll system.
"The new system was undertaken with MDOT and the International Bridge Administration in Sault Ste. Marie. It was carried out with the approach that the common system design would save funds," said Lee. "This complemented the enhanced variable messaging signage, and the enhanced CCTV system which was completed at the beginning of the 2022 calendar year. It drastically improved traffic management capabilities. A $3.8 million emergency power upgrade project, consisting of three 600 kilowatt generators and associated switch gear was successfully completed and commissioned in early 2022."
Lee said the revised master plan for the Canadian plaza at the Blue Water Bridge is ready for implementation, although further work has been deferred for the foreseeable future as capital reserves were impacted by pandemic restrictions.