N.W.T. investigating broken cable on Deh Cho bridge

The N.W.T.'s Department of Infrastructure said it is investigating the cause of a broken cable on the Deh Cho bridge.

This includes conducting a site review, which is expected to take three to four days. 

"How long the repairs will take will be determined through the site review and what repairs are needed," said Darren Campbell, a spokesperson for the department. "We can't give anybody an estimate on when, how long the repairs will take. "

The department became aware of the broken cable on Tuesday. 

The one-kilometre-long bridge near Fort Providence is one of the territory's largest pieces of infrastructure and is the only bridge across the Mackenzie River. 

"The safety of travellers using the Deh Cho Bridge is our number one priority," said Campbell. 

"The bridge is a cable-supported truss bridge that was designed with redundancy built in so the bridge can remain functional with a damaged or removed cable." 

He said the territorial government has reached out to the original team that designed the bridge, and they will be travelling to the site to further assess the damage. 

The department is also combing through camera footage to try and determining the cause of the break. 

As a precaution, the bridge has been reduced to a single lane with a 30km/h speed limit until at least Aug. 15.