Creemore bridgework comes to completion

Bridgework on Collingwood Street wrapped up this week when the refurbished steel trusses were placed atop the new concrete structure.

Since late August, when construction crews started dismantling the bridge, local residents have made regular visits to the site, keeping an eye on the progress.

The trusses, painted rust brown, were delivered to the site Monday afternoon and crews put them in place Tuesday, finishing the work Wednesday.

The refurbished steel trusses were added to the bridge as a compromise after some residents spent years fighting to save the bridge.

The ornamental trusses added about $400,000 to the cost of the bridge replacement project, which had a total budget of is $2.25 million.

The bridge was widened to two lanes and was lowered one metre to improve sightlines.

The original steel nameplate was taken from the bridge before construction began and its whereabouts is unknown but a commemorative plaque will be added to the structure.

County of Simcoe’s general manager of engineering, planning and environment Debbie Korolnek said the plaque is still in the design phase.

“This aspect of the project will be reviewed with the township before being finalized to get their feedback,” she said. “The support for the plaque has already been fabricated using the salvaged steel members from the old bridge and will be installed behind the guide rails at the northeast quadrant of the bridge before the contractor demobilizes from the site within the next few days. The commemorative plaque itself will then be mounted on the support once it is finalized and fabricated. A few other items such as the cornerstones of the old bridge abutments have been salvaged and these are being kept at the county’s Creemore yard for potential use for this commemorative effort. Likely installation of the final commemorative plaque would be next spring.”

The Collingwood Street Bridge was built in 1913 by JJ Dummond of Brentwood, the grandfather of Clearview Township Mayor Chris Vanderkruys.