The primary connection between Prince’s Island Park and Eau Claire Market has been shut down after a troubling safety inspection, the City of Calgary said.
The city announced Saturday morning that the bridge was closed after a recent inspection revealed “accelerated deterioration.”
According to the city, the deterioration of the bridge is due to water and salt, and a third-party inspection of the bridge is expected to take place next week.
“From that assessment, we will determine what can be done to safely extend the use of the bridge until its scheduled closure in August,” said bridge maintenance manager Charmaine Buhler in a news release.
The bridge, which opened in 1968, is slated for replacement as it has “reached the end of its service life,” according to the city’s website.
The decision was previously made to close the bridge for demolition in August 2020, and build a new bridge in 2021, the city said.
The city held an open house in October regarding the bridge’s replacement and asked Calgarians what they thought the bridge’s replacement should look like.
The city is currently in the design phase for the new Jaipur Bridge, and officials expect construction to begin next year, according to city staff.
“Citizen feedback on the recommended bridge type at a recent open house led us to revisit the design criteria,” said Katherine Hikita, a City of Calgary transportation and infrastructure senior structural engineer.
“We want to make sure we’re making the right decisions today for the future of the bridge and Prince’s Island Park.”
A proposed design of the new bridge was already presented to the City of Calgary planning commission in late September but was pulled from the agenda at the beginning of the meeting.
According to one city councillor on the commission, some felt the design was too big and clunky, appeared overbuilt and didn’t fit in with the rest of the city’s vision for the Eau Claire development.
Detours will be put in place during the closure, and three of the four crossings into Prince’s Island Park will remain open.
“We recognize this is an inconvenience to the public and local businesses,” Buhler said. “We thank them for their understanding as we work through potential solutions. We will update Calgarians as we learn more.”
The city plans to present the revised Jaipur Bridge design to the planning commission along with the Eau Claire Promenade and Plaza projects next year.