By Thia James

POLL: After approving underwater bridge inspections, council calls for checks of rail bridges

Oct 16, 2013 | 6:51 AM

On the heels of its approval of inspections of the Diefenbaker Bridge’s underwater structure, Prince Albert city council called for a report looking at the safety of the rail bridge that crosses the North Saskatchewan River.

The department of public works will look into regulations governing the safety of the rail bridge. The call to have the rail bridge inspected comes months after the train accident in Lac-Megantic, Que. A train carrying fuel derailed, leading to an explosion and fire that killed more than 40 people and destroyed many of the town’s buildings.

Since then, municipalities across Canada have turned a spotlight on rail safety.

Mayor Greg Dionne said after Tuesday’s council meeting that the city has taken quite a few calls about the rail bridge that crosses the river. “It is an older structure, that bridge. And people have been asking us, ‘have we inspected it?’ And I’ve told them, ‘well, no we haven’t.’ Because it’s not a city-owned bridge. It’s owned by the railway.”

But he said what the city can do, and what it will do, is check if there is provincial regulations covering inspections of the bridge.

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The call for a look into such inspections was launched by Coun. Charlene Miller during the council meeting. She expressed her own concern about the bridges in the city that the railways use.

“I would like [it] if [the department of] public works could get a hold of Carlton Trail [Railway], to see if and when they have ever done an inspection on their rail bridge going across the North Saskatchewan River,” she said.

Bridge safety was on the agenda earlier in the evening, with the underwater inspections of the Diefenbaker Bridge receiving its final go-ahead. ISL Engineering and Land Services will conduct inspections this fall, using sonar equipment and other advanced technologies to scan the underwater piers for irregularities. Divers would be sent down to assess those areas of concern.

Public works director Colin Innes said that it is his understanding from the contractor that upon council’s approval of the inspection plan, scheduling to perform the inspection work would begin right away. As well, with the option that council opted to go with, the survey would be done on all of the bridge’s piers.

Although there was wide approval for going ahead with the inspections, Coun. Don Cody wanted to make sure the public knew that council was not nearly as happy about it as it may seem. He added the only reason he’s going to support it is because the $65,887 for the inspections will come from the provincial government’s Urban Connector Program.

“But you know, there is only one taxpayer. Let’s be honest about it. So the money still comes out of our own pocket[s],” Cody said. “But I’m a little disturbed that this work was not done at the time when the [Stantec] report was given.”

He once again questioned the Stantec report – released earlier this year and which stated that the bridge had 25 more years of service life left – when it didn’t inspect what the bridge sits on.

“Secondly, the two engineers that are with that firm at the time, are now the two engineers who started ISL,” he said, and added that is a little “disturbing.”

Additionally, council unanimously agreed to re-open the pedestrian walkway on the Diefenbaker Bridge that is currently closed. The re-opening is set to happen on Nov. 15.

Dionne expressed his disappointment in SaskTel for not completing its work on the bridge, which resulted in the delay of the walkway’s reopening. The city, he said, completed the repair work on the walkway, and that it has been ready to be re-opened for a while.

“It’s the last piece,” he said.

Preventing future flooding at Macarthur Drive

Preparations are underway to prevent a repeat of flooding in the Macarthur Drive area in the West Flat.

The city will get construction equipment in the area, near the train tracks to clean debris out of the surrounding bushes and ditches.

Earlier this year, water flowed over the tracks, Dionne said after the meeting, which led to about three blocks of the neighbourhood being flooded.

“And I was amazed at how the water was running,” he said. “And I was surprised that Carlton Trail didn’t do something quicker, because I was worried that it was going to affect the integrity of the tracks, and wash out the tracks.”

The city has surveyed the area, and will send the report to Carlton Trail Railway, informing it of the work that needs to be done, Dionne said. “And if you can’t do it, we’re willing to do it under a custom work order.”

If the city does the work under a custom work order, the public works department would be ordered to do the work around the tracks to prevent the flooding, but the bill would be sent back to the railway.

“It’s a flooding issue that’s a threat to our community in the West Flat,” Dionne said during the meeting. “And we know about it and it’s our intention to correct it this year.”

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames