By Adam Frisk
The footbridge at Head Lake Park will be reassessed while council looks at replacement alternatives after receiving the final draft of the proposed new bridge design.
Hoping to “get this thing put to bed,” Dysart Mayor Murray Fearrey and council members directed staff to conduct a structural evaluation of the current footbridge that spans the Drag River at Head Lake Park, while the municipality considers alternatives. The move comes after the final cost of the proposed design ballooned to nearly $600,000.
Council received the final design drawings for the new footbridge in a staff report during the Oct. 28 regular meeting. The total updated construction cost is estimated at $590,000. This figure includes non-recoverable HST, a 15 per cent contingency, and administrative costs. The figure doesn’t include additional costs for damage done to the park outside of the project area during the mobilization and construction of the bridge.
“If you move forward with this, it’s likely that it will wipe out your parkland reserve for anything moving forward,” Rob Camelon, director of public works, told council. “I do get the sense that there’s some uncertainty if council wants to move ahead on this project. I would suggest that if you don’t want to move ahead with it, we decide today to cut it off, but if we do that, we then do a structural evaluation on the bridge just to see what kind of loading it can take and whether we have to close it or find another option.”
The replacement of the existing steel footbridge was approved by council earlier this year following a feasibility study in 2024. Nearly $300,000 of the parkland reserve would be used towards the $590,000 proposed design.
“I’m weak at the knees here,” Fearrey said after hearing the latest figures.
Council suggested to the director of public works to look into an alternative to the likes of a Bailey bridge, a structure similar to the bridge that was purchased for Koshlong Lake Road.
“I mean if we want to defer this again, we can look at different options,” Camelon said. “If it’s like Koshlong, Koshlong wasn’t meant to really be a permanent fix, right. It buys us time. But, it all costs money.”
Councillor Pat Casey was keen on the idea of the Bailey bridge approach.
“It will have its own look. Like a Bailey bridge looks, I think it looks unique,” he told council. “I think it would fit, in my own opinion, I think it would fit in the park. It’s galvanized, and it would go up in a minute, and it’ll last forever.”
The current bridge is arched, and Casey pointed to some safety concerns that come with an arched bridge.
“The river is not navigable anyway, so in terms of having an arch, that was just for looks and architecture,” he said. “But to be honest with you, if you get a little bit of snow or ice on it, it’s more of a detriment if there’s an arch in it.”
Casey said he was “optimistic” that a Bailey bridge would cost about $100,000 or less.
Council directed staff to return a report on the feasibility and cost of placing a Bailey bridge at the park, and for the current footbridge to undergo a structural evaluation.
