NIPIGON, Ont. - The closure of the Nipigon River Bridge to westbound traffic last Friday was the result of routine maintenance according to a spokesperson with the Ministry of Transportation.
The MTO said the deck of the bridge did not move or uplift in any way and the closure was due to work on temporary expansion joints that were installed in 2015 and have been continuously monitored and tightened.
Last Friday, at approximately 8:30 p.m. work crews removed the plate to clean and reset it and the lane was closed to traffic to ensure the safety of workers and drivers. It was reopened an hour and a half later.
These plates will be replaced with permanent joints later this year. The MTO said the bridge is safe for motorists and is expected to be fully opened by the end of 2018. The contractor on the $106 million Nipigon River Bridge project is Bot Ferrovial.
In January 2016, the bridge was closed for 27-hours to both directions of traffic following a bearing on an expansion joint breaking, which led to the deck lifting more than 30 centimeters.
