Work continues on -- and over -- the
Gardiner Expressway as the two sections of the Lakeshore Bridge are demolished just as the
Jameson Bridge was last month.
Work on the two sections of the bridge, the 109-metre east bridge and the 59-metre west bridge, has been closing several lanes of the Gardiner since Oct. 25, and work on this phase of the project will continue until Friday at 5am, when the westbound lanes from Spadina to the Humber River will re-open after periodic closures that began yesterday.
"As a general rule, we inspect all our bridges periodically," says Mike Laidlaw, acting manager of structures and expressways for the city's technical services department, "and depending on condition, we slot them into particular times to rehab them before they get to the point of falling down or are hazardous. These are all being done [at the same time] because of their proximity and there's an economy of scale." Laidlaw mentioned traffic control as one major scalable expense.
Laidlaw hopes to have the bridges reconstructed by the end of the year, but says the timeline is dependent on weather. The city plans to have the entire $15-million contract finished by late spring or early summer of next year.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Mike Laidlaw
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