Posted Sep 27, 2009, 2:40 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Quebec city
Posts: 96
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I was in Pembroke this weekend, and noticed that they have started the twinning of 417 through Arnprior to around Campbell Drive
Quote:
Roadbuilding
In Hwy 17 widening job, bridges are the biggest challenge
IAN HARVEY
correspondent
Officially, Highway 17 is Ontario’s longest highway but for those living in and around the Arnprior area, the longest part seemed to be waiting for the province to issue the $63 million contract to widen it to four lanes.
The project was kicked around back in 2000 and again under the former Ernie Eves government but work didn’t start on the expansion until this year when it was awarded to local contractor, Thomas Cavanagh Construction.
The highway spans nearly 2,000 kilometres of Ontario from the Quebec border to the Manitoba border and the section being widened is about 10 kilometres from Arnprior to Highway 417 which will absorb the roadway under its designation at completion in 2012.
Project manager Craig Angus says work is underway in the greenfields bordering the active highway and the plan is to go 10 months of the year, shutting down when the severe winter cold and winds of the Ottawa Valley close in around January and February.
“The biggest challenges are going to be the bridges which are a combination of precast and steel, especially the one over the Madawaska River which has a pretty good elevation,” says Angus. “We’re also going to be bringing in a fair amount of rock materials for the ground around the massive interchange at White Lake Road.”
He said when the project moves to stage four, crews will be working in live lanes but in the early stages, will be insulated from traffic.
Skilled workers are in good supply in the region, he added, so labour isn’t expected to be an issue.
There are six new structures and two rehabs of bridges that will require a combination of rehabilitation and twinning, in addition to the Madawaska structure: White Lake Road, Division Street, Baskin Drive and a CPR overhead.
The expansion is both a blessing and burden for Arnprior itself since the 417 has brought an influx of new housing development for the small town which sits at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Madawaska River.
It has a population of less than 10,000, but that’s expected to double as the new highway brings in home-hungry commuters from Ottawa and the surrounding area.
However local authorities have been lobbying for many years to get the 417 extension on track because the economic benefits far outweigh any other issues
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