PLASTER ROCK (CNB) – Improvements have been completed to the Trout Brook Bridge on Route 109, a key trucking route in northern New Brunswick, so that it can accommodate trucks carrying loads of up to 50,000 kilograms.
"By working with the local business community, we have addressed concerns about having to detour by way of Grand Falls or load at less than capacity to reach businesses in western New Brunswick and the United States," said Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Claude Williams.
The department evaluated the route, including structures, determining that the gross vehicle weight rating of all of Route 109 could be increased to 50,000 kilograms from 43,500 kilograms by reinforcing the bridge. Built in 1960, it was not designed to carry heavier commercial loads.
The department tendered a contract in July to strengthen the structure’s four beams. The tender closed on Aug. 19 and it was awarded to Fyfe Co. – Atlantic region, Moncton. The company began work on Oct. 3 and finished on Oct. 8.
Each beam had five metres of each of its ends wrapped with a fibre-reinforced polymer to increase the load-carrying capacity of the bridge to the full legal limit.
02-11-11