With new construction on the bridge over the creek on PR 257 due to begin this fall, the demolition of the old bridge was to take place late this winter, and sure enough, early day on March 17, Rakowski Cartage & Wrecking Ltd., a Winnipeg company, was onsite.
Tristen Rakowski’s crew, working with two large excavators, one on each side of the bridge, were collapsing the bridge from the middle outward says Dave, the man on the ground.
Dave was preparing pieces such as the steel railing for salvage. He says that every nut and bolt that can be saved, along with the wood, will be carted to Manitoba Highways yard at Stoney Mountain for reuse or recycling.
“All the cement is falling into the creek. We have the creek blocked off, we have the street blocked off,” says Dave.
“When they work from the centre [outward], this one Komatsu (excavator) that you see will have a cement path going all the way down into the creek to the other side. The bridge will be dropped there. That’s how we’re going to move all the cement that way,” Dave points toward the northeast edge of town where trucks will remove it from the site.
As jackhammers on the excavators’ arms attack the cement it appears their work will be done well within the 10-day contract.
