Late 2016 and early this year Millet replaced two of its pedestrian bridges in Pipestone Park, now due to wood rotting from the inside out a third bridge in town needs replacement.
During town council’s July 19 meeting, councillors approved the decision to replace Wilks Bridge with a maximum project budget of $85,000, with funds coming from a recreational reserve.
Council also gave administration direction to get quotes, and to have Don Gilmet, director of public services, to look into the status of the town’s fourth pedestrian bridge. The matter will come back to council at it’s Aug. 16 meeting.
It was originally thought the Wilks bridge could be repaired and have its lifespan extended by putting pressure treated plywood over it.
Spring runoff has also damaged the banks, which is disturbing the foundation of the bridge.
A memo addressed to council from Gilmet states, “On July 10 it was brought to my attention about five feet of the bridge platform had collapsed. Upon further inspection I noticed the undercarriage of the bridge had totally rotted away.”
“On July 10 Don closed the bridge due to safety concerns,” said CAO Teri Pelletier.
“Coming from a safety standpoint I wouldn’t want anybody on it,” said Gilmet.
Pelletier says the replacement of the first two bridges was in the $170,000 range, and added the estimation for Wilks bridge is half of that.
She added she’s not counting on any Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funds to be in the project. The recreational reserve council approved the funds to come from has a balance of $250,000.
Wilks bridge is located in the green park space away found at the end of Wilks Drive, which located heading south off Secondary Highway 616, on the west side of Highway 2A.