Macdonald Bridge reopens after crews stabilize damaged crane

Halifax's Angus L. Macdonald Bridge reopened Friday and residents were allowed to return home after crews were able to stabilize a crane at a construction site on the Dartmouth side of the harbour.

An evacuation order for Faulkner Street, Lyle Street, Windmill Road and Wyse Road was lifted Friday morning.

That area had been closed since just before 3 p.m. Thursday, when police issued a news release saying it was assisting the Labour Department with a damaged crane in the area of Faulkner Street.

Approximately 20 people from 12 nearby homes were evacuated from the area as a precaution. They were receiving support from the Canadian Red Cross, which organized temporary accommodations. 

The Macdonald Bridge was also closed, causing traffic headaches throughout the region during rush hour.

Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency and Halifax Regional Police remained at the scene Friday morning to support Occupational Health and Safety efforts.

Halifax Fire Deputy Chief Roy Hollett said work was taking place on Friday to secure the crane to the building and at the base.

"It's quite technical what they're doing and how they're making sure the crane doesn't tip over," Hollett told CBC Radio's Information Morning Nova Scotia from the site of the crane Friday morning.

"Once the crane is stabilized and safe, then we pull out and it's left with the [Labour Department] and the crane company."

Hollett said it was his understanding that crews identified breaks at the base of crane on Thursday.

"When that happened, the crane was not stable," he said. "They stopped operations and that's when everything started to escalate."

He said crews worked through the night to stabilize the crane.

In a statement Thursday, the Labour Department said it was closely monitoring the incident.

It said three stop work orders were issued: one for the crane, a second for taking the crane down once it is stabilized, and a third for the evacuation and to make sure no work takes place on the site as well as two construction sites close by.

The department said no injuries have been reported. 

In a later statement on Friday, the department said the crane has been further secured and will be monitored while it's disassembled. That will be followed by an investigation into the cause of the incident.

The department also said all cranes in the Halifax Regional Municipality will be reinspected in the coming days to make sure they've been looked over by an engineer and meet provincial standards, which include mandatory inspections and certifications by an engineer once a crane is constructed and daily visual inspections by crane operators.

The name of the crane and companies involved cannot be confirmed since the investigation is ongoing, the department added.

This isn't the first time a damaged crane at a construction site has displaced residents in the Halifax area. In 2019, a crane collapsed in the city's downtown during post-tropical storm Dorian.