THUNDER BAY — The historic bridge over the Current River near Boulevard Lake is set to be fixed up in the next couple of years, the city says.
The city currently has a request for proposal out for a design consultant for the Black Bay Bridge, which runs along Arundel Street near Lyon Boulevard. The city said it’s aiming for design work to be done in 2025 and 2026 with actual construction slated for 2027.
“This is a scheduled rehabilitation of the structure,” said Mike Vogrig, a project engineer with the City of Thunder Bay. “For the most part, it's to repair deteriorated concrete, replace the railing and do work to the existing deck.”
Vogrig said the city is getting an early start on the planning and pre-construction work, as the structure is a designated heritage property, meaning there’s additional considerations that need to be taken into account when doing repairs. Vogrig said it was a similar situation when the Boulevard Lake dam was repaired between 2020 and 2021.
“We're allowing some extra time as we kind of go through the process of coordinating with regulatory authorities about what special provisions we might have to make in rehabilitating the structure,” he said.
Generally speaking, repairs have to maintain the initial character of the designated structure or property.
According to the city’s heritage registry, the bridge was built between 1911 and 1912 and designed by architect Joachim Antonisen and then-city engineer L. M. Jones. The use of reinforced concrete for the bridge’s construction was a novel approach at the time, according to local documentation.
“The contractors and builders of the Lakehead had gained considerable experience with the medium due to the fact that the grain elevators of the city were constructed of reinforced concrete,” the entry in the city’s heritage registry said.
Seaman and Penniman, who also built the Ruttan Block on Court Street South and the original Bank of Montreal building on Cumberland Street, handled construction, according to the city’s writeup.
The bridge was added on to in 1963, which doubled its width. It was declared a heritage property in 1989.
The bridge allows Arundel Street to cross the Current River, just northwest of where it enters Boulevard Lake.
Despite the heritage status, Vogrig said he doesn’t expect there to be too many complications, given the scope of the work.
“We don't expect anything too major as this is a rehab — we're not really changing too much,” he said.
“This is to extend the useful life (of the bridge),” he said. “It’s kind of getting to the point where we're seeing some deterioration and we want to kind of get on top of it, so we don't run into bigger problems in the future.”
The city’s request for proposal closes on May 22.
