New schedule means Macdonald Bridge will be closed most weekends

Halifax Harbour Bridges has announced a revised work plan aimed at getting the Macdonald Bridge deck replacement project back on schedule, but it means the span will be closed almost every weekend this year.

Weekend closures were supposed to be an exception when the project began. Instead, the Macdonald Bridge will be closed overnight and most weekends until the end of 2016. It will be open from 5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The Big Lift project manager and chief engineer, Jon Eppell, said the bridge might be closed on long weekends as well.

"It's possible," he said. "It's not our initial plan, but we'll see how things go. We don't know how mother nature's going to treat us through the summer."

Behind schedule

Eppell said the project is approximately four months behind schedule, due to bad weather and a steep learning curve.

"It's a very complicated project," he said. "It's only the second time it's been done. Might as well be the first because it is that complex."

The first segment took 60 hours to install, and the seventh segment took only 18 hours, so Eppell said workers are getting more efficient.

Doubling the pace

The plan is now to replace two deck segments each weekend, instead of just one.

The new schedule will put workers on track to install all of the deck segments by the end of 2016, which was the initial goal. The full project is currently scheduled to be finished by the fall of 2017.

​The revised schedule "will reduce the risk of weekday late openings," Eppell said.

Some motorists were frustrated this winter when the Macdonald Bridge did not always reopen in time to accommodate Monday morning commuter traffic.

Slightly over budget

In 2010, the bridge commission forecast the project would cost $205 million. Taking the accelerated schedule into account, Halifax Harbour Bridges estimates the final project will be $2 million over budget, at $207 million.

Drivers are paying for the Big Lift through tolls, which increased in 2011 from 75 cents to $1. The cost to cross using a MACPASS increased in 2012 from 70 cents to 80 cents.

Repaired bridge should last another 75 years

The Big Lift is Halifax Harbour Bridges' largest capital project since the MacKay Bridge opened in 1970. It includes replacing the road deck, floor beams, and stiffening truss and suspender ropes.

The Macdonald Bridge is 65 years old. The Big Lift is expected to extend the life of the bridge for at least 75 years.