The City of Prince George has re-opened the Willow Cale Road bridge over Haggith Creek.
The bridge had been closed since late last summer after it was discovered that ground beneath the new span was moving. Over the last few months, as part of a plan to preserve the steel girder bridge, Ruskin Construction of Prince George installed new support structures at the south end of the span.
The bridge was built to replace a culvert that had been installed in Haggith Creek when the Willow Cale Forest Service Road was first built. Construction of the replacement crossing began in September 2016 and the bridge opened in March 2017. Shortly after the failing culvert was removed last summer, the unstable ground was detected and the bridge closed on September 1. Crews installed a new culvert back into the creek and covered it with about 5 metres of fill. This stopped the movement of ground under the bridge and allowed the bridge restoration work to begin.
The full cost of the project will be presented at a future meeting of city council. As reported in the city’s current annual report, $4.3 million had been spent on the bridge project to the end of 2017.
