ATHABASCA – Nothing lasts for ever, and the Highway 813 bridge across the Athabasca River is no exception.
Construction on the $73.25 million replacement is approaching the one-year mark, but the province says it is still on schedule, and should be done be fall 2025 —the old bridge will be removed afterwards and should be gone by July 2026.
“The community is still excited about the project, we knew it was going to be a long project, and with that comes some patience,” said Town of Athabasca mayor Rob Balay.
The bridge, which was originally built in 1950, consists of two lanes of wooden planks, which haven’t stood up to the test of time; the new project will include two 3.7-metre-wide lanes, and a pedestrian sidewalk.
Jesse Furber, press secretary for Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors, was able to provide an Aug. 16 update on the progress.
According to Furber, the current focus is on roadwork on the west side of the river, which will prepare the existing service road for increased traffic when it begins use as a detour.
“This spring the berm was removed, and the contract focused on the road on the west hill. This is for the service road, which will also eventually be used as a detour once the existing road is re-aligned,” said Furber.
The service road is the main point of concern for the town; according to Balay, it isn’t built to handle the level of traffic it will see.
“We’re going to be lobbying the province to get the service road paved, we feel it needs to be included in the project,” said Balay. “They designed it the way they did by removing a couple of the intersections, and then having the traffic come back, so we think it’s only fair that the province picks up that portion of the project as well.”
Currently the service road is primarily used to access the Athabasca Transfer Site and Recycling Facility, and occasionally backs up as people wait to drop off their load. Balay says that the town doesn’t foresee this continuing to be an issue, due to the construction cycle.
“The delays are really due to the temporary construction, so once that is completed it shouldn’t be an issue. At times it does happen, but it’s been pretty rare; it’s something we’ll have to put up with until the project is complete.”
Construction is being handled by Alberta-based company Alberco Construction; next up will be the construction of the remaining bridge piers, which will happen over the winter.
