Province Advances Replacement of Indian Sluice Bridge

The start of construction to replace the Indian Sluice Bridge, also known as Surettes Island Bridge, on Route 308 in Yarmouth County has been moved up in the province's 5-Year Highway Improvement Plan.

"A consultant's study showed some repairs were needed on the bridge now and more would be needed in the future," said Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Bill Estabrooks. "Rather than keep repairing a bridge we were planning to replace it makes more sense to advance the start of construction from 2013 to 2012."

The cost of the new bridge is estimated at between $12-million and $15-million. Construction should take about 18 months. The existing bridge will be kept in service while the new bridge is being built.

A tender for the design of the new bridge has been called and a tender for the bridge itself will be called next year. Repairs to the existing bridge will begin this week and will require some temporary closures of the bridge during weekdays for the next two weeks.

The province's 5-Year Highway Improvement Plan supports the goals of government's jobsHere economic development plan by creating jobs and improving the highway infrastructure relied on by Nova Scotia businesses and industries.

A complete list of this year's projects is included in the 5-Year Highway Improvement Plan (2011-2102 edition), available at www.gov.ns.ca/tran .