The George C. King Bridge on St. Patrick’s Island is closed for a week to undergo an inspection.
The bridge, opened in 2014, has been closed since Aug. 17 and is expected to remain closed until Aug. 24.
“The team is coming together from all over,” said Susan Veres, senior vice-president of strategy and business development with Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC.)
“Our lead group is from the U.S., so we closed . . . because we have their availability now and we wanted to do this testing in advance, ahead of the busy fall schedule.
“If they can complete their testing and inspection before Friday, that’s great,” Veres said. “But at least we’ll have a week.”
It’s standard practice for the CMLC, which oversees the bridge, to conduct an inspection of major infrastructure in East Village every two years.
The George C. King Bridge was last inspected in 2016 during its final certification.
Some people voiced their surprise on social media about the bridge closure as it seemed to come unannounced, however, Veres said that was due to a technical glitch on their part.
“We had prepared to communicate it on Thursday but we had sort of a technical glitch here and earlier communications were not transmitted,” said Veres.
“So it looks like the first time people saw or heard about it was 11 o’clock at night.”
Pedestrians and cyclists are asked to use the Baines Bridge and 12th Street S.E. to access St. Patrick’s Island.