# Bridge Damage at Nipigon Closes Hwy 17 – NO Travel through Northern Ontario



## Bruce Monkhouse (10 Jan 2016)

Not really Military Affairs but I will delete it later.   Anyone driving or is going to drive through Northern Ontario needs to read this.


http://chromeandsteelradio.com/trucking-news/79-bridge-damage-at-nipigon-closes-hwy-17-no-travel-through-northern-ontario.html

At 3:35 p.m. today, the Nipigon Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police advised that the bridge on Highway 17 has been closed for an indefinite time due to mechanical issues.


UPDATE Road Closure: #Nipigon - Nipigon River Bridge is closed indefinitely in both directions for repairs ^jp
— OPPCommunicationsNWR (@OPP_COMM_NWR) January 10, 2016

So this is why #Nipigon River Bridge is closed, effectively cutting Canada in two. @CBCNews @CTVNews @globalnews pic.twitter.com/QOGO4BaYB2
— 511ONNorthwestern (@511ONNorthwest) January 10, 2016
This is the brand new bridge, and it’s failure effectively cuts Canada in half. There is no travel around Lake Superior/Northern Ontario unless you travel into the United States. The failure of this bridge will cause immediate supply problems for communities along the north shore of Lake Superior who rely on supplies from Thunder Bay. White River and communities to the west are supplied from Thunder Bay.

4:45 p.m. UPDATE – Al Cresswell of CFNO – Marathon has relayed information from the Mayor of Nipigon, Richard Harvey that the community centre in Nipigon will be open for the next 24 hours to offer a warm refuge to motorists who are stranded on the Thunder Bay side of the bridge.


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## PuckChaser (10 Jan 2016)

Some of that gas plant money would have been great to pay for better engineers. Thanks Kathleen Wynne.


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## Nfld Sapper (10 Jan 2016)

Judging by the pictures looks like the cables contracted by extreme cold and also sounds like some of the bolts sheared too....


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## Humphrey Bogart (10 Jan 2016)

PuckChaser said:
			
		

> Some of that gas plant money would have been great to pay for better engineers. Thanks Kathleen Wynne.



That would actually be true if people in Southern Ontario actually cared about the Northern part of the province.


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## jollyjacktar (10 Jan 2016)

That looks expensive.


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## The Bread Guy (10 Jan 2016)

Here's some maps showing where Nipigon is to make it a bit clearer re:  what a bottleneck it really is - also more of the latest here via Google News.



			
				PuckChaser said:
			
		

> Some of that gas plant money would have been great to pay for better engineers. Thanks Kathleen Wynne.


If we're going partisan, I can tell you Team Mike Harris didn't think this stretch of road needed a new bridge or four-laning during his tenure, either.


			
				Humphrey Bogart said:
			
		

> That would actually be true if people in Southern Ontario actually cared about the Northern part of the province.


And we even have two cabinet ministers here, too


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## marinemech (10 Jan 2016)

I feel really bad for the construction crew, now they will have to come back and replace the broken parts of the decking and re run new lines


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## Nfld Sapper (10 Jan 2016)

Actually it appears to be the expansion joint between the bridge proper and the abutment...


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## Humphrey Bogart (10 Jan 2016)

jollyjacktar said:
			
		

> That looks expensive.



Yep and it doesn't look like the bridge will be out of commission for a "couple of days" more like a "couple of months" 

Who even knows if it's structurally sound at this point in time?


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## Good2Golf (10 Jan 2016)

Luckily they can use the old bridge that they didn't demolish yet...oh, wait...


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## Humphrey Bogart (10 Jan 2016)

Good2Golf said:
			
		

> Luckily they can use the old bridge that they didn't demolish yet...oh, wait...



Don't worry they'll be able to call in the Canadian Army, who I'm certain has a plethora of bridging equipment laying around just waiting to be used  op:


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## Nfld Sapper (10 Jan 2016)

op: yup I say start rolling the bridge trains from 2, 33 and 32 CER's.... ;D


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## Humphrey Bogart (10 Jan 2016)

NFLD Sapper said:
			
		

> op: yup I say start rolling the bridge trains from 2, 33 and 32 CER's.... ;D



We won't be able to build a bridge until summer next year though, we might disturb all the fish  ;D

Also I've noted that there is a species of turtle that lives under the existing span so we will need to build the span somewhere else  ;D


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## Nfld Sapper (10 Jan 2016)

Humphrey Bogart said:
			
		

> We won't be able to build a bridge until summer next year though, we might disturb all the fish  ;D
> 
> Also I've noted that there is a species of turtle that lives under the existing span so we will need to build the span somewhere else  ;D



Depending on how far they have started removal of the old bridge they could over-bridge it with the ACROW...


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## Humphrey Bogart (10 Jan 2016)

NFLD Sapper said:
			
		

> Depending on how far they have started removal of the old bridge they could over-bridge it with the ACROW...



It's completely gone, that's where the other side of the new bridge is going  ;D

Interestingly, this was Ontario's first cable-stayed bridge.  Maybe it will be its last?


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## jollyjacktar (10 Jan 2016)

They should have tied it up with Liberal promises, they're elastic enough.


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## SeaKingTacco (10 Jan 2016)

Humphrey Bogart said:
			
		

> Don't worry they'll be able to call in the Canadian Army, who I'm certain has a plethora of bridging equipment laying around just waiting to be used  op:



Did someone say Trouty?


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## The Bread Guy (10 Jan 2016)

SeaKingTacco said:
			
		

> Did someone say Trouty?


Again ...


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## Nfld Sapper (10 Jan 2016)

;D


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## dapaterson (10 Jan 2016)

What's the maximum length for an ACROW without piers?  I'm wondering if the gap is too wide.


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## Ostrozac (10 Jan 2016)

dapaterson said:
			
		

> What's the maximum length for an ACROW without piers?  I'm wondering if the gap is too wide.



Anyone who's done the east-west posting season move will know that crossing (unless you drove through the US), although the vast majority haven't seen the brand new bridge. I hope Ontario got the extended warranty.

Google suggests that ACROW bridges are regularly used up to 100 meters, and the water gap seems smaller than that, but I am not an engineer. In Pioneer Platoon we built rope bridges, not highway crossings. And I suppose converting the CP Rail bridge over the Nipigon River into something suitable for vehicle traffic is a non-starter. Rail traffic east-west is probably even more important economically than the road traffic is.

I hope something can be jury-rigged together soon, because that section of road is the cornerstone of the region. It's a long drive to Sault Saint Marie.


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## Nfld Sapper (10 Jan 2016)

No idea. Max we can bridge per Reg Force CER is 16 bays or 48.8m (~160ft) IIRC. The P.Res CER's can only do 18.2m (60ft)


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## Nfld Sapper (10 Jan 2016)

Ostrozac said:
			
		

> Anyone who's done the east-west posting season move will know that crossing (unless you drove through the US), although the vast majority haven't seen the brand new bridge. I hope Ontario got the extended warranty.
> 
> Google suggests that ACROW bridges are regularly used up to 100 meters, and the water gap seems smaller than that, but I am not an engineer. In Pioneer Platoon we built rope bridges, not highway crossings. And I suppose converting the CP Rail bridge over the Nipigon River into something suitable for vehicle traffic is a non-starter. Rail traffic east-west is probably even more important economically than the road traffic is.
> 
> I hope something can be jury-rigged together soon, because that section of road is the cornerstone of the region. It's a long drive to Sault Saint Marie.



True but the CAF only builds in one configuration and that is a Double-Single (two panels wide by one panel high)


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## Humphrey Bogart (10 Jan 2016)

The gap is just under 200ft.


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## Nfld Sapper (10 Jan 2016)

Humphrey Bogart said:
			
		

> The gap is just under 200ft.



True but we would need more than 200ft of ACROW to account for the nose during construction and for counter-weight....


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## Nfld Sapper (10 Jan 2016)

Pics from: http://chromeandsteelradio.com/trucking-news/79-bridge-damage-at-nipigon-closes-hwy-17-no-travel-through-northern-ontario.html


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## Humphrey Bogart (10 Jan 2016)

NFLD Sapper said:
			
		

> True but we would need more than 200ft of ACROW to account for the nose during construction and for counter-weight....



Of course, I'm not an engineer so I'll defer commentary about actually building an ACROW to the experts


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## Nfld Sapper (10 Jan 2016)

Humphrey Bogart said:
			
		

> Of course, I'm not an engineer so I'll defer commentary about actually building an ACROW to the experts



 :subbies:


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## McG (10 Jan 2016)

Army bridges won't be wanted (though I have no doubt the staff checks are happening).  Civilian ACROW or Maybe bridge get assembled and dropped in place by crane, and they can offer much better load class with more than one lane.  The contracted solution is better than what the CF holds.


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## YZT580 (10 Jan 2016)

Good chance for the railways to step in and provide interim services, at least for trailers in a unit train between QT and Marathon.  Quick cash, quick turnaround.  (Sarcasm) Do you think some engineer took the warmists dire predictions to heart and decided they DIDN"T need to plan for minus 40?


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## Ostrozac (10 Jan 2016)

YZT580 said:
			
		

> (Sarcasm) Do you think some engineer took the warmists dire predictions to heart and decided they DIDN"T need to plan for minus 40?



Sarcasm taken, but it hasn't even been that cold this year. Nipigon hasn't even reached -25 yet this winter. Today the low was only -16.5. I was born within sight of Lake Superior, and it gets WAY colder than that. Last winter it got down to -33 a few times.


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## Kat Stevens (10 Jan 2016)

NFLD Sapper said:
			
		

> True but the CAF only builds in one configuration and that is a Double-Single (two panels wide by one panel high)



No such thing as piers any more?  WTF?


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## Nfld Sapper (10 Jan 2016)

Kat Stevens said:
			
		

> No such thing as piers any more?  WTF?



Seen some in the back of the compound at Swan Lake for the MGB, haven't seen any for the Acrow... in my limited exposure....


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## my72jeep (10 Jan 2016)

Bridge has been open a month besides a bunch of logging roads north of lake Nipigon that my or not be open at this time that bridge is it. A true Trans Canada choke point.


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## George Wallace (10 Jan 2016)

Anyone now wondering if the wrong materials were used in those suspension cables?


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## Nfld Sapper (10 Jan 2016)

George Wallace said:
			
		

> Anyone now wondering if the wrong materials were used in those suspension cables?


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## Old Sweat (10 Jan 2016)

It's fun to speculate and maybe we could start a pool, but we really have no friggin' idea

Two bucks on space aliens.


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## cupper (11 Jan 2016)

Looking at the photo that shows the side of the span between the pylons and the abutment it appears that the deck has sagged down.

This is probably going to require removal and reconstruction of the span, which will be no easy feat considering that to avoid doing any damage to the pylons (if they haven't been damaged) they need to dismantle the deck from both ends at the same time to ensure the loads are not unbalanced.

Smartest move would be to do an all out push for completing the second span, then dismantle and rebuild the first.

This is going to result in a huge hit for the general contractor and any subs that ultimately are found responsible. And the insurance companies are hurt everyone.


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## The Bread Guy (11 Jan 2016)

An update:  CBC News says one lane's open


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## Humphrey Bogart (11 Jan 2016)

milnews.ca said:
			
		

> An update:  CBC News says one lane's open



I guess MTO stacked concrete dividers on the side that lifted to act as a counter-weight.  You can see a video at the following link: 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/nipigon-bridge-transcanada-update-1.3398207


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## daftandbarmy (11 Jan 2016)

Wait, can I hear whistling? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83bmsluWHZc


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## Old Sweat (11 Jan 2016)

The highway is open again. This report from Thunder Bay newswatch indicates that a solution has been found. The item is reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act.

UPDATE: Single lane of Nipigon bridge opened to traffic

Jon Thompson, tbnewswatch.com
By tbnewswatch.com
NIPIGON, Ont. -- Seventeen hours after an expansion joint split on the new Nipigon River Bridge, Trans-Canada traffic is flowing again.

The Ontario Provincial Police opened the eastbound lane of the month-old, cable-stayed bridge to traffic before 9 a.m. Monday.

Bolts holding the girder to the bearing on an expansion joint broke on the bridge’s north side at 3:05 p.m. Sunday. When the bolts released, the cables staying the bridge tightened to support it, raising it about 60 centimetres. 

Early Monday morning, engineers weighed down the bridge with 110 concrete blocks weighing 2,721 kilograms each.

Ministry of Transportation area contracts engineer Gary Weiss said safety was paramount in engineering modeling. He’s confident the added weight will serve as a temporary solution until the cause of the failure can be determined. 

“The one great thing about this bridge is its very flexible and a lot of redundancies are built into this bridge. When things move, they look worse than what they really are,” Weiss said.

“When we built this bridge, we built it so it’s not flat the whole time. We built it on a curve so that the weight brings it back down and comes to rest on the bearings.”

Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle was on site Monday morning. He praised construction efforts that made the bridge passible more quickly than expected.  

“Clearly, we need to understand what happened. Clearly we need to get in place measures so we can ensure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.

“Today, I’m focusing on the rather extraordinary work that has been done by the engineers and the construction people who have been able to get the traffic lane open for all traffic.

‘When this happened, there wasn’t any assurance – let alone clarity – this would be happening with in a 17 hour time frame.”

The new bridge was opened to traffic on Nov. 29 and represents half of a $106-million construction Gravelle has called the “crown jewel” of highway twinning between Thunder Bay and Nipigon.

Demolition has begun on the remaining two lanes of the old highway. The MTO expects construction will be complete in 2017.

_- mod edit to add link -_


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## daftandbarmy (11 Jan 2016)

Ah, of course, SOP #27: If bridge goes wonky, just add a quarter million pounds of concrete and carry on as if normal.


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## Nfld Sapper (11 Jan 2016)

daftandbarmy said:
			
		

> Ah, of course, SOP #27: If bridge goes wonky, just add a quarter million pounds of concrete and carry on as if normal.



Actually more than half a million pounds (110 x 2721 kg =299,310 kg = 659,865.60lbs) of concrete...or 299.31t....


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## daftandbarmy (11 Jan 2016)

NFLD Sapper said:
			
		

> Actually more than half a million pounds (110 x 2721 kg =299,310 kg = 659,865.60lbs) of concrete...or 299.31t....



And that, ladies and gentlemen, is one reason why Daftandbarmy is in the Infantry


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## Nfld Sapper (11 Jan 2016)

daftandbarmy said:
			
		

> And that, ladies and gentlemen, is one reason why Daftandbarmy is in the Infantry



 :subbies:


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## Retired AF Guy (11 Jan 2016)

cupper said:
			
		

> This is going to result in a huge hit for the general contractor and any subs that ultimately are found responsible. And the insurance companies are hurt everyone.



I wouldn't be to sure about that. My understanding is that the contractor is responsible for any repairs up one year after handover. Once that one year is up, they are no longer responsible.


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## ModlrMike (11 Jan 2016)

When I first read the headline I thought it said brain damage. After I read the article I realized that I might not have been far wrong in my first assessment.


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## George Wallace (11 Jan 2016)

Retired AF Guy said:
			
		

> I wouldn't be to sure about that. My understanding is that the contractor is responsible for any repairs up one year after handover. Once that one year is up, they are no longer responsible.



Perhaps that may be true, but the scandal that this may do to their "name" may be enough.


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## GAP (11 Jan 2016)

Help is on the way


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## donaldk (12 Jan 2016)

Typical NW Ontario jerry rig maneuver bad-aid fix for the broken bridge.  The full fix is going to be a mess, but because of the cold it won't be practical to start any real work until at least end of March.  Not surprised this happened back home; the area has been LONG neglected by the provincial/federal governments and then when they do something it is ALWAYS done wrong.  This time it got Canada's attention...

From the MTO, Load limits are 63,500 kg and wide loads are limited to 4m.

They already commenced demolition prep of the old span, writing it off for backup usage.  They assumed wrongly the new bridge was good to go without letting it go through a proper winter's torture before condemning the old span.  Winters are damn cold there and I don't miss them.

From the local gossip back home, the logging roads that would normally be used to circumvent this type of closure are impassable due to snow and cars that tried this are stuck/trapped.  If you aren't familiar with the area, and the bridge is forced to close again; I do NOT recommend attempting the logging road option.


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## Good2Golf (12 Jan 2016)

ModlrMike said:
			
		

> When I first read the headline I thought it said brain damage. After I read the article I realized that I might not have been far wrong in my first assessment.



Whew...so I wasn't the only one!


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## cupper (12 Jan 2016)

donaldk said:
			
		

> From the MTO, Load limits are 63,500 kg and wide loads are limited to 4m.



Although I'm not familiar with Ontario's regulations, this does not seem to me to be any reduction from normal permitted highway loads.

I know from previous experience that typical semi-trailer loads in Nova Scotia run 63 tons for standard trailer, and 72 tons for B-Trains. Standard highway loads in the Eastern US run 48 tons max.


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## donaldk (12 Jan 2016)

In some parts of Ontario they allow a double road train (tractor + 2x 53 footers = max length 130ft?).  I have seen them rolling through T-bay last summer with a wow and wtf at the same time (probably used the 11 from T.O., as the 17 east of Tbay would be a PITA to haul that).


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## GAP (12 Jan 2016)

donaldk said:
			
		

> In some parts of Ontario they allow a double road train (tractor + 2x 53 footers = max length 130ft?).  I have seen them rolling through T-bay last summer with a wow and wtf at the same time (probably used the 11 from T.O., as the 17 east of Tbay would be a PITA to haul that).



They are quite common, especially on the prairies....


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## George Wallace (14 Jan 2016)

With the development of the "Ring of Fire" in Northwestern Ontario, I am wondering what steps are being made to open up that region for better development.  Would a highway constructed North of Lake Nipigon not be a good plan?  I am sure such a route would cut a minimum of two hours off a trip from Timmins to Dryden.  It would also solve a problem of "one bridge destroyed effectively being capable of cutting Canada in half".


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## The Bread Guy (14 Jan 2016)

George Wallace said:
			
		

> With the development of the "Ring of Fire" in Northwestern Ontario, I am wondering what steps are being made to open up that region for better development.


The Ring of Fire needs enhanced north-south infrastructure more than east-west for the moment.



			
				George Wallace said:
			
		

> Would a highway constructed North of Lake Nipigon not be a good plan?  I am sure such a route would cut a minimum of two hours off a trip from Timmins to Dryden.  It would also solve a problem of "one bridge destroyed effectively being capable of cutting Canada in half".


Maybe, but we're talking building about 500 km of highway in the bush (see attached for VERY rough routing), running near a provincial park.  That's loads of money***, loads of process, and a road less populated than Highway 11.  All this in ridings with a very, very, very small proportion of voters, both provincially and federally.

Also, a whole lot of people driving from one part of Canada to another already drive through the U.S. instead of along the Trans-Canada, so it's not really a huge imposition - yet.

Until the need presses the voting nerve of 416/905 (how much more will they pay for stuff delivered by truck, especially in these "just in time delivery" systems?), _nothing_ approaching that scale would ever be considered.  

It's probably easier building a by-pass road closer to where the current bridge is, but even that amount of money has to be wrenched from a system that doesn't know where Nipigon is.

*** - If you believe World Bank figures, adjusted for inflation since 2010, let's round off to a very-ballpark estimate of $1M per kilometre.


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## Humphrey Bogart (14 Jan 2016)

milnews.ca said:
			
		

> The Ring of Fire needs enhanced north-south infrastructure more than east-west for the moment.
> Maybe, but we're talking building about 500 km of highway in the bush (see attached for VERY rough routing), running near a provincial park.  That's loads of money***, loads of process, and a road less populated than Highway 11.  All this in ridings with a very, very, very small proportion of voters, both provincially and federally.
> 
> Also, a whole lot of people driving from one part of Canada to another already drive through the U.S. instead of along the Trans-Canada, so it's not really a huge imposition - yet.
> ...



The easy solution is to upgrade the bush road that runs around the two lakes (Helen Lake and Polly Lake) to the North of the Bridge and put in a gravel road that is passable by trucks and motor vehicles.  It would require bridging the Nipigon River but a simple bailey bridge would probably suffice.  Keep the road plowed in the winter time and properly graded and the costs would probably be minimal.


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## Kat Stevens (14 Jan 2016)

milnews.ca said:
			
		

> The Ring of Fire needs enhanced north-south infrastructure more than east-west for the moment.
> Maybe, but we're talking building about 500 km of highway in the bush (see attached for VERY rough routing), running near a provincial park.  That's loads of money***, loads of process, and a road less populated than Highway 11.  All this in ridings with a very, very, very small proportion of voters, both provincially and federally.
> 
> Also, a whole lot of people driving from one part of Canada to another already drive through the U.S. instead of along the Trans-Canada, so it's not really a huge imposition - yet.
> ...



You could cut the corner and go from Nipigon to Upsala, a much shorter build and still carve a good hunk out of that godawful drive.


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## donaldk (14 Jan 2016)

$1M per km would be a good price for the Upsala bypass route (Ontario does have a hypothetical plan for it on file).  The current twinning work requires an insane amount of blasting as it is all hard bed rock up there.


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## The Bread Guy (14 Jan 2016)

Humphrey Bogart said:
			
		

> The easy solution is to upgrade the bush road that runs around the two lakes (Helen Lake and Polly Lake) to the North of the Bridge and put in a gravel road that is passable by trucks and motor vehicles.  It would require bridging the Nipigon River but a simple bailey bridge would probably suffice.  Keep the road plowed in the winter time and properly graded and the costs would probably be minimal.


That would indeed be LOADS cheaper and easier - and a lot shorter than I would have guessed (see attached map).  No idea about the technical issues, though.



			
				Kat Stevens said:
			
		

> You could cut the corner and go from Nipigon to Upsala, a much shorter build and still carve a good hunk out of that godawful drive.


That would certainly be shorter (+160 km), even though Bogart's "between the lakes" pass - also see attached.


			
				donaldk said:
			
		

> $1M per km would be a good price for the Upsala bypass route (Ontario does have a hypothetical plan for it on file).  The current twinning work requires an insane amount of blasting as it is all hard bed rock up there.


I believe that - that's why I called the $1M/km estimate a "very-ballpark" one.  I believe I've also heard heard that estimate to drive a road from Nakina to the Ring of Fire.


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## The Bread Guy (14 Jan 2016)

Humphrey Bogart said:
			
		

> The easy solution is to upgrade the bush road that runs around the two lakes (Helen Lake and Polly Lake) to the North of the Bridge and put in a gravel road that is passable by trucks and motor vehicles.  It would require bridging the Nipigon River but a simple bailey bridge would probably suffice.  Keep the road plowed in the winter time and properly graded and the costs would probably be minimal.


Actually, instead of my previously-mapped option, it would probably be easier to upgrade existing road to Cameron Falls, do a ~300m crossing and cut another 8 km or so back to the highway (see attached).


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