Public Notice

Vaughan Creek Covered Bridge Replacement – Public Comments Invited

February 11, 2021 – Infrastructure Canada and Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada must determine whether the proposed Vaughan Creek Covered Bridge Replacement , located in the St. Martins, New Brunswick, is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

To help inform this determination, Infrastructure Canada and Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada are inviting comments from the public respecting that determination. All comments received will be considered public. For more information, individuals should consult the Privacy Notice on the Registry website (https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/Protection?culture=en-CA). 

Written comments must be submitted by March 14, 2021 to:

Marc Simard 

343-540-9905

marc.simard2@canada.ca

 

The Proposed Project

The New Brunswick Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (NBDTI) is planning the replacement of the existing single-lane covered bridge crossing the Irish River in St. Martin's, NB.

 

The Vaughan Creek Covered Bridge is located on the east side of the Village of St. Martin's, on the southern coast of New Brunswick (45.3589º N, 65.5322 º W). It connects Main Street in St. Martin's with the Big Salmon River Road which is the primary route to the Fundy Trail Parkway, one of the Province's major tourist attractions.

 

The bridge is a covered Howe Truss and is one of the Province's 58 historic single lane covered bridges. The bridge also has a covered pedestrian sidewalk on the downstream side. The bridge was construct-ed in 1935 (86 years ago) but due to advanced deterioration it has reached the end of its service life. The bridge condition forced its closure in June 2017, and a temporary single lane modular steel bridge was constructed immediately upstream of the old structure.

 

The Vaughan Creek Bridge Replacement Project involves constructing a new covered bridge on the same alignment as the existing bridge. The proposed new bridge is a box girder structure with timber housing. The replacement will meet the requirements of a two-lane structure designed for full high-way load carrying capacity according to the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code CAN/CSA S6-19, with full vertical clearance to provide no traffic restrictions or limitations on tour buses and recreational vehicles. The new bridge will also have a sidewalk. The existing bridge and the modular bridge will be dismantled as part of the project.

 

The project is expected to take two construction seasons to complete and construction is anticipated to start in the summer of 2021, once all required permits and approval are in place. The temporary modular bridge will be operating until the completion of the new bridge. There will be a slight change in the horizontal alignment of the Big Salmon River Road to accommodate the new structure. The pro-file of the new alignment is going to be raised to maximize the bridge clearance over the Irish River.

 

Infrastructure Canada (INFC) is providing financial assistance to the project and a portion of the project is located on Federal Lands owned and managed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans – Small Craft Harbours (DFO-SCH). As such, a Decision under Section 82 of the Impact Assessment Act is required.".

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