Spot inspections in recent days of subassemblies constructed in Spain show what appears to be non-conformance in some of the welds.
"The city hired an independent company here to spot check welds completed in Spain,” said Calgary’s general manager of transportation Mac Logan. “The company determined some of the welds do not comply so we will be taking more time to conduct further inspections. Only after the inspections are complete can we determine what additional work may be required and how long that work will take.”
Logan said the opening of the bridge is being delayed in order to give the independent company time to do more thorough inspections of welds that were done on bridge components prior to them being shipped to Canada.
The city is working with Graham Infrastructure, the company hired to assemble the bridge components in Canada, to ensure all the welds completed in Spain meet quality standards. Additional inspections will be done and experts will be brought in to assess the results.
Major subassemblies were constructed and inspected in Spain by subcontractors hired by Graham Infrastructure.
“There are thousands of metres of welds in this project because it is a single-span steel structure,” said Logan. He noted that it a standard course of business and part of good project management to do quality assurance checks on project components. “We want to ensure the welds meet industry and quality standards before the bridge is opened to the public.”
The 130m single span bridge extends from the north to south side of the Bow River just west of Prince’s Island Park. The absence of piers significantly reduces the environmental impact on the river.
Santiago Calatrava has designed the Peace Bridge.
