Port Bruce will have temporary bridge in place before summer

Residents in Port Bruce will have temporary bridge into their village within the next two to three months.

The Imperial Road Bridge collapsed in late February as a construction truck was crossing over it.

Central Elgin Mayor David Marr told 980 CFPL that the county has decided to purchase a temporary bridge, which should be operational in two to three months.

“It’ll be a modular panel bridge similar to another one in the county. It’ll be approximately 160 feet across. It will enable one lane of vehicular traffic and also pedestrian traffic.”

The investigation into the cause of the collapse is also ongoing, but Marr said engineers have named loose anchor rods as the early suspect.

“(Anchor rods) are totally embedded. It’s not something on a visual inspection you would see. Certainly, many different factors could have affected it, but right now we’re looking at the anchor rods,” Marr said. “When they let loose, it allowed the bridge to rotate a little bit and allowed that centre piece to collapse into the water.”

It could take up to two years to build a permanent replacement bridge.

The truck remains in the water as the town awaits a plan from the insurance company on how to remove it.