Steel required to build the new bridge was delivered months later than planned and put the project behind schedule. The project’s general contractor Acciona/Pacer Joint Venture (APJV) said that without the steel on site it was unable to meet several project milestones.

As part of its contract with the city of Edmonton, APJV assumes the full project delivery risk for the Walterdale Bridge, including penalties for schedule delays. Project costs remain within the established US$124 million budget, with no additional costs anticipated for the city or taxpayers resulting from the delay.

“We are disappointed that the new Walterdale Bridge will not open to public service in fall 2015 as we had anticipated,” said Barry Belcourt, city of Edmonton branch manager for roads design and construction. “We know many Edmontonians will also be disappointed and we regret the delay.”

The existing Walterdale Bridge remains in service and will continue carrying traffic downtown until the new bridge opens. Traffic and river valley trail detours remain in place.

Acciona Infrastructure Canada managing director, Raquel Garcia, said that APJV remains committed to working with the City of Edmonton to complete the project. "The APJV is disappointed that construction is delayed due to issues with the structural steel manufacturer. The APJV has implemented, and will continue to implement, various mitigation strategies to resolve these challenges," said Garcia.

“The construction schedule and steel delivery has always been a risk that the contractor has borne, and in this case it materialized,” said Belcourt. “The city is protecting its interests by holding the contractor accountable and will ultimately levy penalties as a result.”

Crews are continuing to backfill the cofferdams and complete concrete supports. Next steps include assembling the arch steelwork in preparation to launch the central sections across river later this year.

  • Walterdale is not the only Edmonton bridge to be experiencing problems. Steel beams for another new bridge buckled during installation last month but have now been stabilised sufficiently for the road underneath to be reopened pending a decision on the long-term solution.