Mountain View County council is reviewing a proposal to replace Big Prairie Bridge with a lower-cost steel structure that could be installed as early as March or April.The option of changing the specs of the bridge from cement to steel girders and beams was presented at last Wednesday's policies and priorities committee by representatives of Bernie Lublinkhof Welding Ltd., an Alhambra-based company that specializes in temporary and permanent bridges for the oilpatch and logging industry.The span would be constructed in three sections for a total cost of about $440,000 and would cost another $200,000 to $300,000 to transport to the site and install, Lublinkhof said.While the bridge would meet national engineering standards, it would not comply with provincial building code specs for the new bridge, which call for cement supports. As a result $800,000 in grant funding committed by the province could be off the table, administration told P&P.Deputy reeve Trish McKean noted that the tender estimate last summer came in substantially higher than the $1.6 million to be split between the county and the province.Even without the provincial share, ìif this total comes in at $700,000, we're saving money,î McKean said.Div. 2 Coun. Kevin Good agreed that it seemed like a case of ìgetting the best bang for your buck,î rather than tailoring the project to be eligible for a matching grant.Asked to comment on the proposal, Donna Maynes, one of three Big Prairie residents in the gallery, gave it her tentative support.ìFrom what I've heard it sounds great,î Maynes said.ìAll we want there is a bridge, like we had before those idiots burned it down,î she added. ìWe're very anxious to get something, even if it's just pontoons.îThe structure would have a deck width of 18 feet, a carrying capacity of 40 tonnes and a lifespan of about 75 years, said engineer Adrian Todeila of Williams Engineering Canada Inc.Compared to a cement structure there should not be extra life cycle costs, Todeila said, ìas long as the bridge is maintained properly and on a steel bridge that means making sure the bridge doesn't rust.î An extra quarter inch of steel could be added ìas a sacrificial layerî against rusting, he said.The company will present a full cost estimate to the county next month. Before then, Alberta Transportation officials are scheduled to attend a P&P meeting where they will outline their position on the project.
