N.W.T. bridge may need costly repairs

The Deh Cho Bridge being built over the Mackenzie River could need more than $1 million in repairs, even though it's still under construction, according to an audit of the Northwest Territories' mega-project.

The construction audit by Levelton Consultants identified 16 gaps in documentation related with the $182-million bridge, which will link Yellowknife and other North Slave communities with southern Canada year-round when it's finished.

But Northwest Territories transportation officials say Atcon Construction, the bridge's former general contractor, will have to pay for fixing the problems raised in the audit.

For example, there is no recorded proof that a hole identified in one of the bridge's piers was ever fixed, said Kevin McLeod, the N.W.T. government's Deh Cho Bridge project manager.

"At the end of the day, no one can actually come to me and say, 'I swear on a Bible that this has all been done and you can be assured it is done.' So we just need to check," McLeod said Thursday.

"If it's a matter of moving a little rock and checking, then let's do that."

Funds available for fixes

McLeod said it would cost around $300,000 to pump out the water and then send a camera down to inspect the area. If there is a hole that needs to be fixed, he said it could cost up to $1.5 million to repour concrete onto that section.

He said crews may also need to level out and add more scour rock, which is used to protect the concrete that supports the piers, as well as make sure quality assurance work has been done.

McLeod would not say how much the total repair bill will be, but he said Miramichi, N.B.-based Atcon Construction will have to pay for the additional testing and repairs.

Atcon is in receivership, but McLeod said the government already held back money from the contractor for this kind of situation.

"This was something done that was done by a contractor and it's much like any deficiency, now we have to fix it," he said.

"I know that if we compare those numbers to what we have [in] available funds, that we have enough."

Repairs to the pier and the scour rock will be done sometime next year, McLeod said.

Still on track for 2011 opening

Otherwise, McLeod said the territorial government has already addressed 10 of the 16 issues identified in the Levelton audit.

The audit report is expected to be released in January, after officials sort out some legal issues, he said.

Despite the issues raised in the audit, McLeod insisted that the Deh Cho Bridge will open on time in November 2011, in time for the fall freeze-up of the river.

"Levelton has assured us that there is no show-stoppers and there is no issues that they don't know about," he said. "There is nothing critical to our aim right now, [which] is to build a safe, secure bridge."

But Yellowknife Kam Lake MLA Dave Ramsay, a critic of the government's handling of the Deh Cho Bridge project, said officials should have caught the bridge's problems a lot earlier.

"Had the government paid attention when it was brought to light a year ago, these things could have been remedied early on [rather] than what I think is going to be a more expensive fix down the road," Ramsay said.