After six years of little action, a solution to repair the Seventh Avenue Southwest bridge and extend its lifespan for another decade could be at hand.
During a special council meeting to be held tonight, city administration will ask city council to award the bridge rehabilitation construction contract to Harbuilt Construct Ltd. for $739,937, with money for this work to come from the land development fund in the general capital fund.
The bridge has been closed since 2015 after ice damaged the structure.
Two rehab options were considered for this project, including installing steel piles and caps for $739,937 or removing the east portion of the bridge and installing a new barrier for $465,900, a council report explained. Based on an analysis that Associated Engineering (AE) completed, option 1 was the best solution.
Associated Engineering provided the design for the project, issued the tender and will provide construction oversight once the project commences.
The tender was issued Feb. 4 and closed on Feb. 18, with officials from AE evaluating the submissions in consultation with municipal officials, the report explained. Harbuilt was chosen since it represented the lowest qualified bid for both options.
AE also performed a life-cycle cost on the bridge and determined that option 1 is favourable and would save more than $300,000 over 10 years, the report continued. With an assumed life cycle of 10 years, this return was above the cost difference of the two options by $274,037.
In particular, the benefits of option 1 include lower life-cycle costs, a greater level of service with 10 tonnes allowed over four tonnes, longer service life, greater durability, and a reduced risk of damage from ice.
The Moose Jaw Express will have a follow-up article on this issue after tonight’s meeting.
