County of Brant council members unanimously accepted bids to repair four bridges within the County during their Administration and Operations Committee meeting on Tuesday, July 18, 2023.
The projects are set to extend the life of the existing structures for the efficient movement of people and goods, and will help to avoid the financial and environmental impacts of a full replacement.
A total of six proposals were received by the County of Brant Purchasing Department prior to the deadline on Friday, June 2, 2023, and were evaluated based on both technical and cost proposals in accordance with the County of Brant purchasing policy by-law.
Contracts were awarded as follows:
· Reid Bridge located on Fourth Concession Road between Middle Townline Road and Laurence Road awarded to G. Douglas Vallee Limited for the bid price of $66,802 (excluding HST)
· Peddie Bridge located on Big Creek Road between Mulligan Road and Brant County Road #22 awarded to G. Douglas Vallee Limited for the bid price of $69,946 (excluding HST)
· McBlain Bridge located on Brant County Road #22 between Highway #54 and Big Creek Road awarded to Gannett Fleming Canada ULC for the bid price of $155,599 (excluding HST)
· Douglass Bridge located on Highway #54 between Brant County Road #22 and Onondaga Townline Road awarded to Gannett Fleming Canada ULC for the bid price of $119,323 (excluding HST).
Sufficient funds in the approved 2023 Capital Budget will cover the full cost of both Reid Bridge and Peddie Bridge, as well as the design cost of the McBlain and Douglass bridges.
Additional funds of $65,599 for McBlain Bridge and $29,323 for Douglass Bridge will be needed for contract administration and inspection work, and will be included as part of the 2024 (and/or 2025) budget deliberations.
The original project proposal also included Castler Bridge (located on Ninth Concession Road between Muir Road South and Kloepfer Road), however, the structure is currently under consideration to be closed to vehicular traffic as per the Transportation Master Plan (TMP).
County staff are not recommending to go forward with the project at this time and will return to council with an official report regarding the fate of Castler Bridge at a later date.
Councillor David Miller inquired with Rob Walton, General Manager of Operations for the County of Brant, if there would be a specific process to go through before closing down the bridge.
“In the report Castler Bridge was included in the RFP (Request for Proposal), but because it was one of the bridges listed to possibly close down, there’s nothing in the report about the bid on that one,” he said. “In light of another bridge – Cleaver Bridge – being shut down last week, do we have a process in place for closing bridges in the County? I don’t want to see bridges closed simply because we let them get to a state of disrepair.”
Walton said that there were 13 bridges identified in the TMP to be potentially closed down including both Castler Bridge and the Cleaver Road Bridge, and that when the RFP for the repair project was released, it was discovered Castler Bridge was on the list for a potential closing.
“When we put out the RFP it was sort of realized that this [Castler] is a bridge that could be closed, and then of course we got the structural report on Cleaver which made us take quick action,” said Walton. “But yes, staff will be proposing a process similar to closing a road where there would be a consultation, a look at options and a report will be brought back to council for the final decision to be made [to close Castler]. The good news is that it’s not scheduled to be closed until we get a report which says that it needs to be, so no other changes are going to happen there soon. We’ll talk about both of them in the report and we’ll bring some recommendations as soon as possible.”
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.