According to a provincial spokesperson, repairs to the bridge along Highway 311 near New Bothwell are right on schedule.
“The project is expected to be substantially complete and open to traffic by December, while total project completion, including site restoration and revegetation, is anticipated in summer 2025,” the spokesperson told The Citizen.
This means that commuters travelling along that section of Highway 311 will have to contend with detours for another three to four months.
Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure staff will continue to monitor the detour route, such as Highway 216, and provide routine maintenance and repairs as needed due to increased traffic.
This December will mark a full year and a half since the bridge initially burned on May 10, 2023. It took another nine months from that date for the province to make a decision on the new bridge’s construction and accept a tender for reconstruction.
Repairs got underway in February of this year and are estimated to cost around $16 million.
The original creosote-coated timber structure will be replaced with a modernized three-span concrete girder bridge which will have a higher capacity to accommodate heavier or overload vehicles.
