Durham Street Bridge (Image from Bruce County website)
Bruce County council received an update on the work to the Durham Street Bridge in downtown Walkerton.
Phase 1 of the bridge rehabilitation is complete, and Phase 2 of the work is continuing on budget, according to the county’s Engineering Manager Ryan Errington.
“Due to delays in the final portion of the Phase 1 work, the completion of the Phase 2 work is beyond the original December 2025 completion date,” said Errington at Thursday’s council meeting.
An updated schedule has been submitted to the county by the contractor, Looby Construction Ltd., which outlines a completion for Phase 2. The company is anticipating that the work will be completed in early July 2026.
Errington added, “The revised schedule incorporates a winter shutdown from early December to late February, during which the bridge will be temporarily re-opened to two-way traffic.”
Once the winter shutdown ends, the remaining work will resume in March and continue until completed.
Phase 1 of the rehabilitation project was accomplished by Pullman Services.
The delay for the Phase 2 completion, according to the Transportation and Environmental Services department, are due to a number of factors, including the redesign of the south concrete enlargements underneath the bridge structure.
The redesign was required after it was determined by the structural engineer that the location of the existing rebar within the half joints was not consistent with the original design drawings.
Additionally, a quality control inspection identified further areas on the underside of the bridge that required full depth concrete repairs.
Once all repair work is completed, the rehabilitation would extend the service life of the Durham Street Bridge from 25 to 40 years.
There were previous delays for the project earlier this year, when debris brought in from a flooding event caused some damage to the bridge.