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O’REILLY’S BRIDGE – PART 3
By Paul Forsyth
[Welland Tribune, 17 February 1987]
PELHAM LANDMARK GETS FACELIFT
PELHAM-The reconstruction of O’Reilly’s Bridge is finally underway.
The Pelham landmark, which had a dubious future for a while last summer, is undergoing a $200,000 refurbishing which will see the deck completely replaced.
The region’s public works committee at one point in June was considering a staff report to close the bridge. The closure was recommended because the bridge was seen as a hazard through its deteration over the years.
The bridge’s load capacity was rated t just two tonnes-the weight of an average car-yet it is used by area farmers to drive heavy farm machinery back and forth over it to work on parcels of land of either side of the Welland River. The Regional staff reporter recommended closing the bridge until a decision could be made on what to do with it –repair it or tear it down.
The bridge was closed last week, and contracted work is expected to keep it closed until early May. Mel Holenski, head engineer of transportation services for the Region, said the bridge-which the region took responsibility of from Wainfleet in 1973, will now be safe for the current transportation uses.
“It’s a total removal of the deck because its (deck) almost perished. Then, they are to reinforce the floor beams and replace the deck.”
Holenski said the 70 year old bridge will have a load restriction, with the weight capacity upgraded from two tonnes to about 10 tonnes-enough to handle a tractor and a loaded trailer.
The contractor will use the existing trusses on the bridge-hence the load restriction-but by not replacing the bridge from the ground up-the Region will save a lot of money. A total replacement of the bridge would have cost about $1 million, he said.
The Region’s public works committee decided not to act on the staff recommendation to close the bridge until input was gained from the public.
“There were representations made by property owners and the public, and the public works committee and (Regional) council made a decision having their concerns incorporated in that decision.”
Strong local opposition to the possible closure of the bridge was demonstrated at a local public meeting in July, organized by Pelham Mayor, Eric Bergenstein and Wainfleet Mayor Stan Pettit-both members of the Region’s public works committee. The meeting was organized to find out how the public felt about the recommendation to close the bridge, and about 80 local residents showed up to voice their opposition to it.
The Region will foot $100,000 of the cost of refurbishing the bridge, with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications picking up the remaining 50 per cent.
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