Officials with the City of Edmonton confirmed Thursday that the reopening of Groat Road was still on-track to open, after work to straighten bent girders on the 102 Avenue Bridge was successful.
The City said efforts to shift the weight on the twisted girders had been successful, and the super crane that had been brought into place to help crews do the job would be taken off the site Friday.
“If you look at all the girders, they look fairly straight, other than probably girder 5,” Barry Belcourt with the City of Edmonton said.
Over the weekend, crews are expected to add bracing to the girders, and engineers will assess the stability of the structure. In addition, the contractor will provide documentation to the City of Edmonton that demonstrates the girders are safe, and drivers can start using the roadway underneath.
“Once Groat Road has been restored, our contractors will continue working on a plan for the analysis of the girders, and then we’ll get into the project phase,” Belcourt said.
In the early hours of Monday, March 16, construction on the new 102 Avenue Bridge over Groat Road stalled, after four of six installed girders buckled – three of them seriously.
The failure forced officials to keep Groat Road, which had been closed for the weekend to make way for construction, closed until work was done to repair the damaged girders.
Belcourt said it could still take weeks to determine if some, or all of the bent girders will have to be replaced, and what caused them to buckle in the first place.
As of Thursday, the City said Groat Road was still set to reopen on April 7 – that’s expected to happen at about 6 a.m.
Officials said it’s not clear when the completed bridge will open.
With files from Ashley Molnar
