Bridge Rehab On Hwy #644

NWR’s need for certainty related to bringing in heavy loads for the Sturgeon Refinery project, combined with a steel girder bridge across Highway 644 east of Redwater that had fatigue cracks from a lifetime of heavy use, caused NWR to instigate a bridge repair and strengthening program in April 2015. The program is being done to Alberta Transportation standards, with their full review and approval, but managed by NWR. The repairs consisted of grinding off welds that held reinforcing plates to the bottom flange of five longitudinal girders, and replacing those plates with thicker plates bolted to the original beams. The repair was coordinated such that traffic was restricted to single lane use, and heavy permit loads were prohibited while the reinforcing plates were removed.

Through effective program management and a focused construction team effort, the repairs are trending ahead of schedule, and a repaired and strengthened bridge is expected to be re-opened fully by the end of June 2015. NWR expresses its sincere appreciation for all those who worked on the efforts for this repair, and for the travelling public’s patience while the repair has been in progress.