The Rural Municipality of Garden River has over 20 bridges in its boundaries. (File Photo/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Rural Municipalities

Local rural municipalities welcome bridge inspection program

Jan 7, 2020 | 1:55 PM

Local rural municipalities are welcoming a province-wide bridge inspection program.

Originally reported by the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) is currently looking for a contractor to inspect all rural bridges in the province.

Don Fyrk reeve for the R.M. of Buckland, said many of the bridges in rural areas have been in service for some time.

“A lot of these wooden bridges were built back in the early ’50s, mid ’50s, so they’ve pretty much run their courses. They’re not really built to handle the weights that are on the roads anymore,” he said.

The reeve added they have been working to replace older bridges in the R.M. over the last 10 years. Fyrk said it is good SARM is doing work on this front.

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“It’s good for all the R.M.s that they’re doing that,” he said.

R.M. of Garden River Reeve Ryan Scragg said they appreciate the inspection services provided by SARM. He explained the R.M. of Garden River has over 20 bridges within their boundaries.

“Most of them would be in the 50-plus year-old range, they are getting later on in their life span,” he said.

Scragg said the R.M. has been working to replace some of their older bridges. According to the reeve, over the last four years three bridges have been replaced while converting another three to culverts.

The cost of building a bridge is higher for rural municipalities as most do not have engineers working in house, which is essential to construction.

“Everything has to be engineered and for many they need hydrology and geo sounding, to determine the specs of the bridge,” Scragg said.

He added while there is support available for replacing aging bridges, he would like to see more supports to help pay for long term maintenance, which might help avoid costly replacement. Costs can be as high as $1 million.

“I think the life span could definitely be extended if there was a better long-term maintenance program,” he said.

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn