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Bidding begins for new bridge

“There's a lot people interested not only from Canada but from the States, so I think we are going to get some competitive bidding."

Bridge builders from both sides of the border expressed interested in constructing the new Trail crossing – and that was before the tender officially launched Tuesday morning.

“It's a huge project that engineering has been working on and it's taken longer than we wanted to get out to tender,” Larry Abenante told council members at the Monday governance meeting.

“There's a lot people interested not only from Canada but from the States, so I think we are going to get some competitive bidding.”

The tender package contains 1,000 pages of documents and reference material as well as over 100 drawings, said Abenante.

A mandatory pre-tender information meeting is scheduled for June 17, he explained, noting bidding closes July 7 and council could see the tender recommendation the following week.

Construction is expected to begin in early September with the project substantially completed by May 2016.

“This is the City of Trail's largest capital project in the long history of our community,” said Deputy Mayor Kevin Jolly in a Tuesday news release. “The city has been working on this project, in conjunction with the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary for several years.

“The process has involved numerous engineering firms, provincial and federal authorities, who have collectively provided all the necessary components for the bridge to proceed to construction. We are very excited to see this suspension bridge proceed to the next stage.”

Designed by Vancouver-based bridge engineers Buckland & Taylor, at nearly 1,000 feet, the bridge will be one of the longest structures of its kind in North America.

Regional sewer partners in Trail, Rossland and Warfield reached a deal in October that has the RDKB contributing $4.2 million toward the new aerial waste line.

Trail's portion is almost $6 million and includes and 11.8 foot composite concrete deck to accommodate pedestrians, cyclists and a four-track emergency vehicle, a secondary water line and fibre optic conduit.



Sheri Regnier

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