Work proceeding on Gananoque’s Water Street bridge

On Tuesday, in a special council meeting at Gananoque Intermediate Secondary School, council passed a bylaw authorizing the mayor and clerk to sign an agreement to complete the rehabilitation of the Water Street retaining wall.

The agreement, with Fidelity Engineering and Construction Inc., for an upset limit of $653,299, was passed unanimously.

An investigation into the Water Street Swing Bridge was conducted after significant rainfall from Aug. 8 through 10.

During that intense rainfall, Water Street at the east end of the bridge was overflowing and the storm sewer wasn’t taking the water.

Council directed town staff to complete a permanent solution design for the compromised retaining wall on Water Street at the eastern approach of the swing bridge and obtain quotes from qualified contractors.

The previously contracted works for the structural repairs of the Water Street Swing Bridge have now been completed and the contractor has left the site.

Town staff worked with Greer Galloway Group Inc. staff to design a permanent solution for the compromised roadway on Water Street. Five contractors were approached directly with the design on Oct. 11, and were requested to submit a quote on Oct. 17, outlining their price to complete the work immediately.

The Town received the following four other quotes – H.R. Doornekamp Construction Ltd. ($877,100), R.W. Tomlinson Limited ($933,036), Kehoe Marine Construction Ltd. ($1,096,443), and Green Infrastructure Partners Inc. ($1,172,382).

Fidelity has been around for more than 10 years and has completed several large-scale roadway rehabilitation projects similar to this one, council heard.