The Roger Creek Culvert replacement at the Redford Street Extension is coming along well, according to project manager Alan Galambos of R.F. Binnies & Associates Ltd., who won the tender for the project.
“We’re nearly ready to excavate the culvert, that will start this week,” he said, adding that “the concrete abutments are nearing completion and the next stage is to put the steel girders on.”
The girders are set to be installed from 11 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 27 to 5 a.m. on Thursday Aug. 28. During that time period the Port Alberni Highway will be closed to the public between Maebelle Road and Galiano Drive.
The culvert is being replaced by a 44-metre single span steel girder bridge at a cost of $5 million due to the risk of a washout from culvert’s narrow opening being clogged with logging debris. If there was a washout, West Coast General Hospital and the city could be flooded.
There is temporarily a one-way stoplight controlled bridge at the site in order to allow traffic to flow through.
Work on replacing the culvert started in March and is due to end at the end of November.
“The official contract completion date is November 30.. we’ll possibly even complete it a bit ahead of time,” said Galambos.
reporter@albernivalleynews.com