“We anticipate that there is about a month of H-Pile driving to do in Pier #3, the one closest to the U.S., and in the south (U.S.) abutment,” Williams said in a recent email.
“Once this is completed, we will be done with the H-Pile driving,” he said.
The town of Fort Kent has been keeping a close eye on the project, which is happening in the heart of the community’s downtown area.
“Things are progressing well,” said Donald Guimond, town manager for Fort Kent.
Construction crews have been working within three separate cofferdams as well as the two shoreline abutments, using hydraulic pile drivers to anchor steel beams into ground. These will help secure the superstructure over which the new travel way will be built.
Guimond admitted that it has been a noisy summer due to the pile driving work, but that traffic disruptions have been minimized and the engineers and contractors have been keeping town officials well informed.
“They are doing a really good job,” added Guimond.
The New Brunswick MTI also anticipates delivery of girders and beams in late November, with the assembly of these steel components to start at the beginning of December, this year.
“The steel erection should take a good part of December 2012 and January 2013,” added Williams.
At this time, Williams said that plans call for the removal of the trestle, or the temporary bridge, by the end of March 2013.
Williams also said that drivers and residents should not look for much of a slowdown in construction during the upcoming winter months.
“We don’t expect to be shut down for long, if at all, this coming winter,” the minister said.
In February of this year Caldwell and Ross, a Fredericton company, had been awarded the main contract for the project, worth $13.9 million.
Planners have said they expect the project, which will consist of a four-span, steel-beam bridge, to be completed in 2014. After that, the final phase of the project, removal of the current bridge, will commence.