City of Edmonton officials said Friday that the four girders on the 102 Avenue Bridge over Groat Road that twisted during installation nearly two weeks ago have started to straighten, and the plan to reopen the major roadway was on-track.
A massive crane brought in to help crews relieve pressure on the four buckled girders appears to be doing its job, as officials said the lengths of steel were starting to straighten out.
“Our plan was to bring the big crane in, take some of the weight vertically off the existing girders to make them more vertical,” Barry Belcourt with the City of Edmonton said Friday. “They’ve been doing that.”
On Friday, crews also started installing the seventh girder – a piece that wasn’t installed once four girders buckled.
“Once girder seven is place it can allow everything else to be self-supporting and then we can disconnect the cranes,” Belcourt said.
In the early hours of Monday, March 16, construction on the new bridge hit a major snag, when four of six installed girders buckled, three seriously.
The complication forced officials to keep Groat Road – which had been closed for the weekend to make way for construction – shut down until the bridge was repaired.
Crews are working to determine of the damaged girders can be repaired, or if they will have to be replaced.
“We’re not going to build on the bridge or put decking on the bridge until we know the girders are safe,” Belcourt said.
Officials said they were still on-track to reopen Groat Road by April 7.
With files from Ashley Molnar
