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100-tonne crane to perform upgrades on Halifax’s MacKay Bridge

HALIFAX – Halifax’s MacKay bridge will receive critical maintenance over the next two weekends, with work to be performed by a 100-tonne crane.

Halifax Harbour Bridges (HHB) will use the crane to replace the bridge’s eighth and ninth panels. Steel plate cracking has been detected along each 10,000-kilogram deck section, which have both been replaced since 2010. The replacement plates were manufactured by Dartmouth’s Cherubini Metal Works.

During this maintenance work, the crane will take up nearly the entire width of the bridge. Due to the size of the crane and the work being performed, the bridge will be closed to traffic for the next two weekends. Following the replacement of each panel, paving work will be conducted to smooth out the road atop each section.

These replacements have been a priority this year, but delays and accommodations have pushed work on the bridge until now, with HHB hoping to complete these upgrades ahead of the cold weather’s arrival.

“We’ve been planning the work for several months. We have specialty workers from across Canada on site,” said Tony Wright, CEO of Halifax Harbour Bridges. “We delayed last weekend to accommodate the Parade of Lights. Unfortunately, with winter weather approaching, we couldn’t delay any longer.”