Effort to free excavator from covered bridge extends into next week

It could be late next week before an overweightexcavator that crashed through the deck of a covered bridge inQuispamsison Wednesday morning can be safely removed, according to theDepartment of Transportation and Infrastructure.

The excavator, which remains suspended between the deck ofthe Hammond River No. 2 bridge and the embankment below, has been secured to a service truck to mitigate the possibility of it falling or slipping further until it can be freed, DTIspokesman Shawn Berry said in a statement.

"A design is being prepared for additional support to stabilize the bridge so that the excavator can be removed. The design will require the approval of WorkSafeNB before work can begin," said Berry.

It's unclear when the bridge will reopen, he said. The damage is still being assessed.

• Excavator crashes through historic covered bridge, remains stuck

Meanwhile, Tamara Wilson, a member of the Covered Bridges of New BrunswickFacebookgroup, is calling on the contractor involved to cover the costs of repairing the 104-year-old bridge.

"It never should have happened," said Wilson, who was at the scene on Friday, taking photographs to update other members of the group.

The contractor, Gary McKinney Construction, was hired by DTI to assist crews in replacing the deck of the bridge, built in 1912.

The bridge has a posted weight limit of 12tonnes. The312CL excavator is listed as weighing more than 13tonneson themanufacturer'swebsite.It was carrying a heavy load of wood at the time.

"They were here to repair it;three days into the job and this is what happened," said Wilson. "I hope they have to do restitution and cover the cost to get the bridge up and running a fast as they can."

McKinney, who was operating the excavator, but was not injured, declined to comment on Thursday.

DTI crewsbrought in a second excavator on Friday.

They also made a cloth barrier at the base of the excavator that's snagged on a single support beam of the bridgeand are creating a layer of rock around it on the embankment below.

It appears they are making a landingbase to lessen the impact when the heavy machinery falls free.

On Thursday, a department spokesperson said in a statement that both the Department of Environment and the Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries hadbeen consulted on the operation. The siteis a popular fishing location.

WorkSafeNB continues to investigate.