The Federal Bridge Corporation says the original span of the Blue Water Bridge is expected to be closed for three months this summer.
Chief Operating Officer Warren Askew tells Sarnia News Today a rehabilitation project, estimated to cost $4 million, will begin in July.
"The big pieces of the project involve some cross beam strengthening and a bearing replacement," said Askew. "Some of these components are 85-years-old and it's time that they get looked at. So, we've got that included in the project, along with an expansion joint replacement."
Askew said the Canadian portion of the bridge will be repaved afterwards.
"We'll be starting the work on July 5 and we're looking at reopening the bridge October 5. So, it's about 100 days worth of work. While we do that, and the bridge is closed, the Michigan Department of Transportation [MDOT] is also coordinating and doing some work during the same time."
Askew said MDOT's work won't impact their construction dates.
"Bridge number one, the original bridge, will be completely closed for that period of time. The good news is Blue Water Bridge is really the only bridge that has two spans to go across the river as part of one crossing. So, we have a lot of capacity to be able to shift the traffic over to bridge number two, the one that was completed in 1997."
Askew hopes there's minimal impact on motorists.
"The last time this was done in 2015, it was fairly similar work in terms of the closure itself. All of the traffic was put over to bridge number two. We actually have a lot of lanes that cross the river. So, the constraint really isn't so much on the bridge itself, it's what happens at either end, both in terms of tolls and customs clearances."
Traffic volume is also factored in.
He said they've been coordinating the work with MDOT, Canada Border Services Agency [CBSA] and the United States Customs and Border Protection [CBP].
"We've been planning this now for close to a year with them, so everyone can look at staffing, everyone can plan and be able to process traffic on both ends. So, we'll certainly have all of our toll lanes open and it's expected that CBSA and CBP will be ready to handle the traffic."
When the time comes, Askew recommends watching the live camera feeds on their website and following updates on the Blue Water Bridge Twitter account for current traffic conditions.
