Last week’s flooding in the Parkland resulted in numerous washouts to roads and bridges within the region.
The bridge over the Wilson River on Hwy. 5 between Dauphin and Gilbert Plains was damaged in the flooding, but was quickly repaired thanks to Reit-Syd Equipment Ltd. of Dauphin and Stirling Aggregates.
Manitoba Infrastructure was quick to turn to Reit-Syd to get the repairs done, providing direction on how it may be done.
The east side of the highway connecting the bridge dropped because the floodwater compromised the bank. Crews from Reit-Syd and Stirling were able to re-open the highway by reshaping the bank and building the road back up.
Reit-Syd general manager Don Tarrant said they were called to Ste. Rose, June 30, at about 7 p.m.
“So we moved a couple of gravel trucks down there, because we were going to close that ring dike around the community,” he said.
“Then we got a second call about the bridge getting washed out on the east end. So we moved down there about 10 o’clock on June 30.”
That night, rock from Grandview was hauled in, because the end was washing out, undermining the end of the bridge.
“They got rock at 11 o’clock at night and they placed rock until 9:30 in the morning. So they got that filled full of rock as best they could and it pushed the water under the bridge where it would normally go,” Tarrant said.
Other equipment was moved in and work began again Thursday morning and continued until about 11 p.m.
“And what they did was, they jackhammered off the end of the bridge apron and below that was where it was eroded. And then they filled that void below, just pound it full of rock and just jackhammered and pounded that rock in there for a really good base,” Tarrant explained.
“And then they put geo cloth in on top of the rock and then put on top of that finished gravel up to road level. And then, of course, after that they had to remove all the trailhead they had excavated out, concrete and asphalt. So by 11:30 last night, that bridge was opened up.”
Two staff members initially began working on the project, June 30. Five staff worked on the site, Thursday.
The cost to repair the bridge has yet to be determined.
“Honestly, I think they just marked down their hours when they started and when they finish. Then Manitoba Infrastructure will audit those hours and then pay us accordingly,” Tarrant said.