The mystery of the Percy Street rapid bridge replacement

Rapid bridge replacements along the capital's Highway 417 have, so far, been rapid and on time until work on the overpass at Percy Street was suspended.

While it seemed on track for its mid-August replacement, it has yet to be completed and there is little explanation as to why.

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Construction work continues on Percy Street, under the bridge, as backhoes and bulldozers move piles of rock, likely in preparation to eventually replace the retired structure. Olaf Vanderputten has been watching as he builds a new fence at a home nearby.

"Well, I really haven't seen a lot," he says. "But I heard they were going to stop to move it, and that happened shortly after that flood, so I'm not sure what is going on."

Vanderputten points to the massive storm on Aug. 10 that doused Ottawa with a record rainfall, leaving some streets, houses and buildings, in meter-deep water. The rapid bridge project was supposed to start that day.

But the two new bridges, which are parked up the road on Chamberlain Avenue, do not appear to be equipped with the wheels required to roll them into place. In past rapid bridge replacements, like over Bronson Avenue and Booth Street, rollers were typically in place days before the move.

So, was the golden rule of construction missed?

"You know, measure twice, cut once, right?" says Vanderputten. "But the fact is, I look at level and square and the rest is hot air."

The Ministry of Transportation, which is in charge of the project, would not specify the reason for the delay, only saying rapid bridge replacements are complex undertakings and its contractors are working to make sure the project is completed as soon as possible.

The city is being kept in the dark too, and has received few details about what is wrong, says the chair of the transportation committee.

"Really, it's pretty much crickets at this point. They say it's a much more complicated engineering process," says Coun. Tim Tierney. "At the same time, we have to deal with the traffic management, policing the routing, and we used to have a protected cycling infrastructure that is now not protected."

The MTO says a revised date for the rapid bridge replacement will be provided when more details become available.