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The procurement process for twinning the Simon Fraser Bridge got off to a slow start, but construction on the new crossing over the Fraser River in Prince George is nearly complete.
Transportation Infrastructure
The procurement process for twinning the Simon Fraser Bridge got off to a slow start, but construction on the new crossing over the Fraser River in Prince George is nearly complete.
“The first part of the construction was developing access to the centre to piers by installing a temporary work bridge in January, February and March 2008,” said Surespan project manager Brad Gunnlaugson, who works for the company awarded the contract to build the bridge.
“We constructed these two new piers directly adjacent to the existing piers. Simultaneously, we were driving piles for the north and south abutments, which is essentially a pier on the ground.”
The new bridge project will twin the existing structure and be about 390 meters long.
The abutments, which were cast in concrete, are big seats for the bridge girders. They also hold back the approach fills.
Gunnlaugson said one of the greatest challenges in building the bridge was providing the construction crew access to the centre pieces in the middle of the river.
“We installed two coffer dams at pier two and three, that would allow us to work in a dry space and install casons or rock sockets,” he said.
“In this case, the coffer dams stuck out of the ground about 20 feet. We were able to get a drill rig in there to drill a round hole that was filled with reinforcing steel and concrete.”
The dams were installed in March, before the winter melt, to have the least impact on fish.
Once piers one, two, three and four were constructed, Surespan started putting spans across the river.
The deck formwork was done in September and the erection of steel took place soon after.
At the same time, a 20 inch watermain was installed in one of the steel girders.
Once this was done the concrete deck was poured, which also fastened the deck to the bridge girders.
In early February, a reinforcing crew returned to the site to tie steel bars on top of the formwork, throughout the length of the bridge.
This work sets the stage for pouring the crown of the bridge, which will probably take place in April, when the weather gets warmer.
However, getting to the construction stage took some time.
“We put it out as a design and build project and short listed three companies,” said Tony Bennett, project director with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
“These companies provided us with a conceptual design and a price proposal. This was cancelled and the design and build process was switched to a conventional design, tender and build.”
The bid submitted by American Bridge Canada Co., Peter Kiewit Sons Co. and SNC Lavalin-Ruskin joint venture came in $15 million more than the $32.5 million originally budgeted.
After the plans changed, the ministry received 11 Requests for Qualifications and from there short listed three companies.
“We received the proposals from three companies and chose the preferred proposal from Buckland & Taylor,” said Bennett.
“They were very well qualified and had a tight design schedule that gave us comfort the project could be finished on our timeline.”
The $1.2 million contract to design the structure was awarded in early 2007 to the North Vancouver-based company.
“Once we had it designed, the construction tender went out on B.C. bid as a major construction project that anyone could bid on,” explained Bennett.
Surespan Construction was awarded the contract after submitting the lowest tender.
The change in process delayed construction until late 2007.
It is anticipated that the $32 million bridge construction phase will be completed ahead of schedule in August 2009.
The original Simon Fraser Bridge was constructed in 1963 as a two-lane crossing over the Fraser River.
In July, Prince George’s IDL Projects Inc. was awarded a $4.7-million contract to build the approaches on each side of the new bridge.
This project will make some of Highway 97 between Cache Creek and Prince George a four-lane highway by 2010.
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