Province Improving Timber Bridge Repairs and Inspections

The province is changing the way it maintains and inspects its timber bridges.

"We've put a timber bridge repair and inspection action plan in place with specific targets and time-lines," said Angus MacIsaac, Minister of Transportation and Public Works. "The most urgent components have already been completed, and the remaining high-priority items are underway or scheduled for completion this fall. Long-term components of the plan include ongoing training programs and field audits processes, which are scheduled to be completed by next spring."

Mr. MacIsaac said a new guardrail installation policy for timber bridges is in place, which includes the use of steel guard rails on roads with high traffic volumes. The Department of Transportation and Public Works expects to spend about $3 million on timber bridge rail repairs this year.

Many of the inspection and maintenance changes are based on the findings of an investigation into repairs carried out on the guardrail system on Halfway Cove Bridge in Guysborough County. Mr. MacIsaac ordered the investigation following a fatal vehicle crash on the bridge in January.

The findings of the investigation carried out on the guardrail system on Halfway Cove Bridge explain why the bridge rail was not constructed in accordance with department plans or specifications. The document describes the actions the department has already completed, or that are now underway to ensure that all future timber bridge rails replacements are constructed in accordance with approved plans and specifications.

"The findings of our investigation do not point to one single reason for the problems with improper repair methods used at Halfway Cove and several other bridges," said Mr. MacIsaac. "There were a number of factors that led to the problem. Overall, the controls in place to monitor the work on timber bridges on a provincial basis were not sufficient to uncover the problem during or after the completion of the work."

The investigation found that the bridge rail installed at Halfway Cove in 2005 was constructed with lag screws instead of carriage bolts. This practice evolved incrementally over a period of years. The problem was found to be restricted largely to the local area. There were other 16 bridges found using the same repair method used at Halfway Cove Bridge. All bridges identified in the initial review have been repaired.

The investigation reported that a level 1 inspection following the rail replacement did not uncover the problems with the bridge rail. The investigation noted that this type of inspection is intended to observe the general condition of the bridge and obvious defects. It was not possible to determine from a walk around inspection whether the bolts used to attach the posts to the bridge were carriage bolts with nuts attached on the other side of the stringer underneath the bridge, or were lag screws, as only the head of the bolt would be visible.

The findings of the Halfway Cove Bridge rail investigation are available on the Transportation and Public Works website at www.gov.ns.ca/tran/publications/halfwaycove.pdf .