The Pattullo Bridge replacement project hit a snafu in its efforts to replace the Royal Avenue overpass on the weekend.
A number of road closures were intended to be in effect from 7 p.m. on Friday, April 28 until 5 a.m. on Monday, May 1 so crews could remove the existing 600-ton overpass and replace it with a new overpass that includes sidewalks on both sides of the roadway.
But on Saturday afternoon, the project team announced the Royal Avenue overpass deck replacement had been postponed due to an equipment issue with the self-propelling modular transporter. As a result, it announced that crews are demobilizing and preparing the existing Royal Avenue overpass for re-opening.
“Prior to starting the deck jacking operation, a hydraulic fluid leak was detected. It was contained within the roadway and cleaned up immediately,” said a statement from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. “As a result, work on the Royal Avenue overpass deck replacement did not begin as scheduled.”
According to the ministry, the Pattullo Bridge northbound lanes (heading from Surrey to New West) and Bridge Connector reopened at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, and Royal Avenue (between McBride Boulevard and the Royal Avenue on-ramp) reopened at 8 p.m. on Sunday.
“The deck replacement work will be rescheduled later this spring, and the project team will provide the new dates when available,” said the ministry in a statement to the Record.
The plan called for a self-propelled modular transporter (SPMT) to raise and remove the existing deck, and take it to a nearby location. Once the Royal Avenue connections are prepared for the arrival of the new overpass deck, the SPMT was going to transport the new deck, lift it above Royal Avenue using its jacking system and lower it into place.
In an interview with the Record prior to work on the overpass replacement getting underway, members of the Pattullo Bridge project team said SPMT equipment has been used all over the world to transport large infrastructure, including a space shuttle. The plan called for the “slow moving” equipment to slowly make its way down the loop ramp, move into place underneath the existing bridge deck and take it to nearby location and bring the new deck to its new home.
