OTTAWA -- A “significant flaw” has forced the closure of the Alexandra Bridge to vehicle traffic for the next three weeks.
The bridge connecting Ottawa and Gatineau over the Ottawa River was closed to vehicles over the weekend for inspections and repair work. Public Services and Procurement Canada says the closure of the bridge to vehicles has been extended until May 24.
The Alexandra Bridge remains open for cyclists and pedestrians.
In an interview with CTV News Ottawa, Gatineau Liberal MP Steve MacKinnon said during routine inspections to maintain the bridge, “a significant flaw was discovered in the latticework that is part of the structure of the bridge.”
“It called for an immediate shutdown of the bridge so that repairs could be done.”
The Gatineau MP says the work on the bridge will include structural reinforcement in the area where the flaw was discovered in the latticework. The latticework is the load-bearing beams on the bridge.
MacKinnon says the bridge is still safe for cyclists and pedestrians to use, but it’s “no longer safe for vehicles until these repairs are complete.”
Last year, the Federal Government announced plans to replace the aging Alexandra Bridge in the future.
MacKinnon says the Federal Government believes the bridge can be fixed in the next three weeks, but added “that bridge will continue to be the object of significant maintenance as we work to extend its lifespan into the six to 10 year horizon where obviously the bridge will need to be demolished and replaced.”
