WORK to put a new concrete surface on the Sande Overpass is stopping this week and will resume next spring once the winter is over.
The project was to have been completed by now but was delayed when workers found structural deficiencies after grinding through the layer of concrete to be replaced on the two eastern lanes of the overpass.
“It was a never a safety issue but it was something that needed to be dealt with,” said transportation district manager Darrell Gunn of what was found.
The problem was found in the box-like steel girders that form the structural base of the overpass.
“The exact sequence of events that lead to it are unknown,” said Gunn of the deficiencies. “It was a little bit beyond regular wear.”
He said the problem was not discovered until the concrete driving surface of the 41-year-old structure was removed and that there was no way to determine the problem beforehand.
Gunn likened it to a home renovation in which, after drywall is removed, studs were found which needed to be replaced.
Girders have been replaced and new concrete poured so as to complete the first half of the project which are the two most eastern lanes of the overpass, said Gunn.
“With winter approaching, we’ll button it up until spring and start again. Drivers shouldn’t notice anything different,” he added.
Whether or not workers will find the same problem when they grind through the concrete on the two most western lanes won’t be known until that actually happens, Gunn said.
The transportation ministry originally contracted the work to replace the old concrete surface with a new one so as to have a solid surface to stop the penetration of water and salt.
The original cost of the resurfacing project was $1.5 million with $1.06 million of that going to Kingston Construction of Surrey.
There will be extra costs but the new project figure won’t be known until everything is finished, Gunn said.