Highway travel along a portion of the north shore of Lake Superior will be more expeditious and safer in the years to come with the completion of the four-laning of Highway 11-17 and construction of a new bridge over the Nipigon River.
The 100-kilometre stretch between
Nipigon and Thunder Bay is a critical link in the Trans-Canada
highway chain, said Annemarie Piscopo, the Ministry of
Transportation’s communications
coordinator.
Though vehicle traffic varies along the route, the roadway handles about 4,400 vehicles daily, of which 30 per cent is commercial traffic.
Should a major accident, natural disaster or infrastructure loss ever occur, a four-lane highway can serve as a viable detour.
“Trans-continental, regional and local traffic rely heavily on this highway,” said Piscopo. “There is no alternative route within the province for Trans-Canada traffic on Highway 11-17 between Thunder Bay and Nipigon.”
Since work began in 2010, the price tag for the 74 kilometres of road either completed, under construction or approved for upcoming work is $512 million, and the project has provided jobs for 5,000.
So far, two sections of highway, totalling 20 kilometres have been completed. A third section of 13 kilometres will be completed this fall. The ministry said two sections are currently being tendered, representing 18 kilometres.
With 30 kilometres of highway to go, the budget for upcoming sections is set when each project is approved for design and construction.
Two more sections, totalling 19 kilometres, were approved in the Ontario government’s spring budget and are starting detailed design.
The remaining sections of about 30 kilometres will be scheduled, designed, and constructed once they are approved, said Piscopo.
The highway improvements will follow a combination of following the existing route with two-lane twinning to the north and south of existing two lanes, as well as carving out an entirely new alignment.
Piscopo said the highway cross-section in most areas provides for an important safety feature with a 30-metre depressed median between eastbound and westbound traffic.
When the entire four-lane highway expansion between Thunder Bay and Nipigon is complete, there will be 14 new bridges and one new interchange at Hodder Avenue in Thunder Bay.
The main contractors involved in the
highway widening have been
Teranorth Construction from Sudbury,
Toronto’s Aecon Group, and LH North from Murillo.
The main consulting firms are Hatch Mott MacDonald Ltd., MMM Group, Thunder Bay Testing and Engineering, WSP Group and Thurber Engineering.
The roadwork has produced jobs for 5,000. And there have been opportunities for local subcontractors and area First Nations involvement, specifically the Red Rock First Nation, which is involved in the construction of the Nipigon River Bridge.
“In addition, a number of local First Nations communities were involved in the archaeological dig near the Mackenzie River, as well as clearing work for the relocation of utilities,” said Piscopo.
A landmark feature of the 11-17 road widening is the erection of the new $107-million Nipigon River Bridge, east of Nipigon, Ontario’s first cable-stayed bridge on a provincial highway.
The foundations of the lower portions of the north and centre towers are now complete with the erection of the tower components to be completed by December.
“Next year, we expect to see the completion of the new westbound lanes bridge deck with opening of these two lanes to traffic by the end of the year,” said Piscopo. “For the remaining two years of this project, we will see the removal of the existing bridge and construction of the new eastbound lanes.”
The bridge and its highway approach
sections of about four kilometres are
underway and are expected
to be completed in 2017.
Bot Construction of Sudbury joined with an international construction company, Ferrovial Agroman, on this project-specific joint venture.
Precast concrete technology is being used on the upper components of the bridge towers and deck.
“This ensures a high level of quality
while shortening the onsite construction time from conventional cast
in place concrete,” said Piscopo. The concrete deck panels are
being joined together using a product developed by Lafarge called
Ductal, an innovative ultra-high
performance concrete.
Bridge designers, McCormack Rankin Corp. took special care to protect fish spawning beds on the Nipigon River.
“This project had to be built in a very narrow corridor with the spawning beds just north of the bridge and a CPR railway structure directly south,” said Piscopo.
That corridor, combined with the need to keep traffic flowing, necessitated the need to build the structure in two separate stages.
“This posed a number of design and construction challenges that had to be analyzed and accounted for in the contract,” she said.
