Township of Blandford-Blenheim Council awarded a contract for the rehabilitation of Bridge 23, located on Blenheim Road, during the regular Council meeting on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
According to a report submitted by Jim Borton, director of public works, the Township is required by the province to inspect all bridges over four metres in length every two years.
“The provincial mandate is that all structures be inspected in accordance to the Ontario Structure Inspection Manual (OSIM),” the report states. “The 2021 and 2023 inspections identified the need for some maintenance to be performed to Bridge 23. This was added to the capital budget in 2023 with a deck and structure analysis to be conducted in 2025.”
The analysis, which requires drilling down into the concrete, provided the Township and KSmart Associates Ltd. with a more detailed assessment of its condition to better determine what kind of repairs needed to be done.
Having published the tender on January 28, 2026, a total of nine bids were received for the project before the February 20 deadline and ranged from $453,766.81 to $776,250.
Consultants with KSmart reviewed all the bids, finding the pricing to be competitive with today’s market, and ultimately recommended Vandenberk Construction Inc. for the job. Correspondence from Allan Garnham of KSmart, states that the company is a well-known bridge contractor who has successfully completed numerous bridge rehabilitation projects.
The submitted bid was for $453,766.81 (excluding HST) and will be funded through the Public Works Reserve. Vandenberk already confirmed with KSmart that they were confident in their bid price.
With $750,000 allocated in the 2026 capital budget for the rehabilitation, the project is expected to come in $150,000 to $200,000 under budget after HST, engineering costs and incidentals.
“The price that we got is very, very good,” Borton told Council. “Now, there will be some engineering costs on top of it, but we are looking to save probably $150,000 to $200,000 on this item, so we’re very pleased with having been able to get the tender out early in the year, as well as the response we got for it.”
Councillor Nancy Demarest then asked Borton if the Vandenberk had ever done any work for the Township, and the director of public works confirmed the contractors had done the box culvert on Blenheim Road, just north of Bridge 23, back in 2018.
Demarest then said she was pleased with the response they got for the project.
“[There was a] great response,” she said. “I guess things are becoming a little more competitive.”
The vote to accept the tender bid was then carried unanimously.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
