Work begins for 'big lift' of Macdonald Bridge

A metal fabrication company in Dartmouth has begun work building the replacement sections of the Angus L.Macdonald Bridge.

The project, which the Bridge Commission is calling the Big Lift," will begin next summer.

Cherubini Metal Works has been hired to construct the 46 replacement panels for the MacDonald Bridge redecking project.

Cherubini Metal Works general manager Steven Ross says the company helped build the third lane of the bridge 15 years ago. But the new job is a lot more involved, he says.

In this case here the decks and the superstructure is all going and all that's left during the installation is the cable, the main suspender cable, he said.

Cherubini is now in the design and testing stage. Construction will begin in December so the company can be ready for the installation stage next summer.

We want to build a backlog of approximately 10 panels and once those are complete, then they'll start the installation and we'll continue on and hopefully all the timing will work out, said Ross.

Each section will be put on a barge, moved under the bridge and lifted into place after the old section is removed, lowered and taken away.

Ross says the first few sections will likely be done over a weekend in case there are unexpected complications. After that they'll be replaced overnight so the bridge can remain open during the day.