The contractor tasked with rehabilitating the Third Street Bridge in Chatham could be facing close to $100,000 in penalties for failing to reopen the bridge on time.
Chris Thibert, the director of engineering for Chatham-Kent, said contractor Toronto Zenith has already been fined for failing to partially reopen the bridge in late November 2021, which was a condition outlined in the contract for the $14 million bridge rehabilitation project.
“They had to have the bridge open to at least one lane of traffic in each direction by this timeline and failure to achieve this would yield a one-time penalty of $35,000,” said Thibert. “Unfortunately, the contractor did not meet this and therefore that penalty has already been applied to the project.”
Another clause in the bridge contract states that Toronto Zenith will be fined an estimated $1,500 for each day that exceeds the scheduled completion date of July 22. The daily fine is an estimate of the probable loss that would be suffered from a late completion of the project.
With the bridge now scheduled to open on Wednesday at 5 p.m., Toronto Zenith could be slapped with an additional $60,000 penalty. Thibert said the exact amount will be determined by Chatham-Kent administration.
While the municipality plans to uphold the conditions of the contract with Toronto Zenith, Thibert said the contractor went above and beyond, working evenings and weekends to complete the bridge as quickly as possible, despite facing several unfortunate delays.
“This was a $14 million dollar bridge project that was basically only a month late. And with all the challenges that were faced, with COVID, material shortages, labour shortages, gas inflation, and overall inflation that we’re seeing around the world right now, [Toronto Zenith] really did step up their game,” said Thibert. “Overall this contractor really did a tremendous job with this project and we’re very happy with the outcome.”
The Third Street Bridge has been closed since May 3, 2021.
An event to celebrate the new bridge, along with bridge sponsor TekSavvy, will be held sometime in the fall. Thibert said the event will focus more on the naming rights for the bridge, rather than the reopening of the span. A date for the celebration is expected to be announced in the coming months.
