Lamorie Street bridge rehab gains council approval

North Bay City Council has awarded a $1,070,549 contract to KB Civil Constructors Inc. for the rehabilitation of the Lamorie Street Bridge.

With the approval, work is anticipated to begin in mid-to-late July with a fall completion date. The City of North Bay will provide more details once staff has met with the contractor and a work schedule is established. 

The transportation link in North Bay's south end was feared in recent years by officials to be nearing the end of its viability. Instead, the Lamorie Street bridge will see its useful life extended for up to two decades through a rehabilitation project that begins this summer and will include regular maintenance.

"The bridge requires immediate attention, according to a staff report. "If repairs are postponed any longer, major rehabilitation will be required which will increase the scope and cost significantly or the bridge will need to be closed off to traffic."

See related: Lamorie Street bridge continues to deteriorate, City to study its options

"Originally the plan was to demolish this bridge," noted Coun. Lana Mitchell, chair of the infrastructure and operations committee, during the June 20 regular meeting of council. "That would not come at a cheap price, and it would be a huge disruption to that neighbourhood.

"In the interim, what we've come up with, is with preventative maintenance and good planning we can expand the lifespan of this bridge for 15 to 20 years and that's something we should be happy to do to move forward, support that neighbourhood, and deal with safety. This is something that has been overdue."

Coun. Tanya Vrebosch stressed an effective communication plan is essential to avoid the disruptions Mitchell referenced. Vrebosch gave a nod to the strategy currently in use for the Main Street reconstruction project.

Coun. Mac Bain was the lone vote against and says he made his stance on the matter clear in committee discussions about the bridge's future. "I've said for three terms I'm not a fan of allocating funds toward the expansion or replacement of the Lamorie bridge."

Bain visited businesses in the area in an effort to gauge how much the bridge would be missed if it was removed. The majority, he says, indicated they could just as easily use the other way out, via Booth Road.

Bain wonders what the cost will be in 20 years to replace the bridge. "We're spending $1 million now and we've got seven or eight million pushed out over a number of years to fix it. It's still a lot of money."

In 2019, Towards Sustainable Infrastructure (TSI) Inc was awarded an $87,000 contract to perform a bridge condition assessment and a detailed analysis for the structural rehabilitation or replacement of the Lamorie Street bridge. "The assessment came back and it is in better shape than we thought," noted Adam Lacombe, an engineer with the City of North Bay during budget meetings earlier this year.

See also: Lamorie St. bridge closing for inspection

"Inspections performed on the structure reveal the bridge structure is showing signs of delamination, spalling and disintegration to some components as well as
exposed rebar and rust spots," the report reads. "Based on the findings of the study, it was identified that the preferred rehabilitation/replacement alternative would be a minor rehabilitation including concrete patchwork and crack injections to the deck, waterproofing and paving, replacing expansion joint elastomeric strip seals, and replacing the steel railing system which would extend the service life of the bridge by 15-20 years."

In 2019, the outlook for the deteriorating bridge that spans the Lavase River and Ottawa Valley Railway line was so grim there was talk it might be more financially responsible to put the bridge out of service rather than pay to repair or replace it.

"Four or five or six years ago, it looked like we were getting ready to replace or remove the bridge," located north of the intersection of Lakeshore Drive and Pinewood Park Drive on Lamorie Street, said Coun. Chris Mayne during budget discussions in March. "But, the engineering studies have given us promising returns."

See: New life for the Lamorie Street bridge

In 2019, Mayne, then serving as the chair of the council's infrastructure and operations committee noted, “It is a bridge that is still well used in the community, but the study will determine the viability of its ongoing operation and potential costs for rehabilitation.

"Certainly, for the businesses in the area, it is important. And if we’re trying to encourage economic development in that industrial park, it is used as another access to the highway so there is value to it. The challenge is what value do you place on that additional service?”

Bain was of the opinion even then it was not worth pouring millions of dollars into the bridge.

“This project has been in and out of our capital forecast a number of times. The last time I believe was three or four years ago and it was $9 million to replace the bridge back then. And yes, there are vehicles that do transition over that bridge, but it is not $9 million worth."

It would be a project council would be reluctant to take on even with partner funding from the provincial and federal governments, even with all three levels of government each paying one-third of the cost, said Mayne then. He observed closing the bridge would require rerouting traffic down Booth Road. 

The City of North Bay evaluated three submissions and the bid from KB Civil Constructors Inc. was the lowest bid, deemed to be fair and reasonable while providing the best overall value. "It is projected that an additional $239,000 in funding is required to complete the project, including the balance of the contract, non-rebated HST, consulting fees, etc.," per the report.