The Macdonald Bridge is getting a $75M makeover - Action News
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Nova Scotia

The Macdonald Bridge is getting a $75M makeover

Halifax's Macdonald Bridge is gearing up for a $75-million makeover that will strip and repaint the structure in an effort to extend its life by decades.

Goal is to use sandblasting, steel repairs and paint to extend bridge's life

Macdonald Bridge to be stripped, painted for first time in 70 years

9 months ago
Duration 2:03
Halifaxs Macdonald Bridge is gearing up for a $75-million makeover. The aging steel will be entirely stripped and repainted, in an effort to extend its life by decades. Haley Ryan has more.

Halifax's Macdonald Bridge is gearing upfor a $75-million makeover that will strip away decades of old paint to start fresh.

Since the bridge opened in 1955, Halifax Harbour Bridges said crews have mostly been doing spot touch-ups and small repairs on the structure. Thenew project will be the first time workers sandblast to the bare steel over the entire bridgeand apply three new coats of paint.

The goal is to extend the bridge's life by 75 years,said chief engineer Ahsan Chowdhury.

A suspension bridge is seen over the harbour on an overcast day. The closest metal footing under the bridge is patchy with rust, while the one beside it is a lighter green
The Macdonald Bridge is seen from the Dartmouth waterfront. Fresh paint is on the second-from-right support structure underneath the bridge, while the structure on the far right has yet to be painted. (Craig Paisley/CBC)

The thick layer of paint that has built up on the bridge over the years has actually stopped properly protecting the steel, he said.Water can now seep underneath it to erode the beams,even if the damage isn't actually visible from the outside.

Removing the paint, repairing the steeland applying three coats of newpaint will save a "significant" amount of money in the long run and avoid major issues, Chowdhury said.

"We have to maintain it to be safe," he said. "We don't want to wait until it fails."

A Bangladeshi man with glasses and a black sweater stands in an office with a brown door open behind him
Ahsan Chowdhury is chief engineer with Halifax Harbour Bridges. (CBC)

Halifax Harbour Bridges undertooka pilot project on the Halifax approach span back in 2017 to figure out how to best tackle the job.

The fresh coat of slightly lighter-green paint that can be seen by looking up at the bridge from Barrington Street is an example of how the rest of the Macdonald look after the recoating project. They also stripped and painted smaller sections on the Halifax and Dartmouth ends of the bridge over the past few years.

Chowdhury said heand some of his colleagues also visited similar bridges in the U.S. and Canada to look at how they handled recoating.

Canadianengineering firm Stantec is designing the $75-million dollar project, which is expected to go out for tender this spring, with work likely to begin in the fall.About half the price tag is for steel replacement, and half for paint.

Multiple steel beams in different shades of patchy green are seen on the steelwork, with the harbour and edge of Dartmouth underneath
A patchwork of paint layers and spots of damage on steel beams underneath the bridge. (Craig Paisley/CBC)

The remaining work includes the two bridge towers and parts of the Halifax and Dartmouth approaches and spans. The new decking on the suspended span that was put in during the Big Lifthas new steel and paint, so won't need any work.

Peter Flower, project manager at Stantec, said their team has created a computer model of the Macdonald to analyze where problemsmight be located, and which pieces may need to be replaced.

"There's a lot of work and prep work that goes into the project, so you know, it might be 2025 before any paint is applied," he said.

The top photo shows a small metal section with patchy green paint and rust. The bottom photo shows smooth, orangey-coloured steel
A section of the Macdonald Bridge before sandblasting (top) and after (bottom), showing the bare steel. (Halifax Harbour Bridges)

The winning contractor will have to follow strict environmental regulations around capturing the old paint as it's being sandblasted, Flower said, and disposing of it properly.

The hope is to attract one of the American companies thatspecializes in recoating bridges,hesaid,as they could deliver the work "quite easily and cost effectively."

Full bridge closures aren't expected. Instead crews will close one lane, at most, outside busy times to put up scaffolding on the towers,Chowdhury said.

The project is expected to be completed by 2027.