Construction

Contractors in Northern Ontario aren’t expecting a flurry of activity across the region this year.

A slumping economy didn’t detract from a solid year of construction in the City of North Bay with $68.8 million recorded in the value of building permits for 2015. It was a slight $1.6 million increase over the $67.2 million posted in 2014.

The newly constructed Nipigon River Bridge will be partially opened to traffic on Nov. 28.

Pearson Plaza in Elliot Lake is on track to be completed and open for business in the spring of 2016. Three years in the making, the $3.5-million shopping centre development started in 2012 and was scheduled to be complete a year later.

The City of Sault Ste. Marie is considering implementing development charges for new building projects in the city.

The province says it will make changes to the Ontario College of Trades, following the completion of a review into its practices.

The new toll booth plaza on the American side of the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge was officially opened Oct. 21. It marked the completion of a 16-month long, US$8.

The province has announced $69 million in funding for the rehabilitation of Northeastern Ontario bridges, culverts and roads through the Northern Highways Program.

Essar Steel Algoma is supplying structural steel bridge plates to build the new Champlain Bridge in Montreal. The Sault Ste.

Another nine kilometres of Highway 69 between Sudbury and Parry Sound has been four-laned. Completed at a cost of $55 million to the province, the new stretch of road between Highway 64 and the Murdock River is now in service.