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THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2018
Vol. 6 Edition 33
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Lots of fun and laughs at WAMBO
Aaron Hall/Special to The Chatham Voice
Mother Nature co-operated and delivered sunny skies for the most part for the 30th annual WAMBO weekend in Wallaceburg. Visitors enjoyed the displays of vintage cars, boats and fire trucks, as well as some hilarious entertainment, such as the annual cardboard boat race Saturday afternoon on the Sydenham River.
Bridge closed as a precaution
By Bruce Corcoran bruce@chathamvoice.com
The closing of the Third Street Bridge for safety reasons comes as little surprise to Chatham-Kent’s general manager of infrastructure and engineering services. Thomas Kelly said upgrade work on that
bridge, closed to vehicular traffic Aug. 3 when an inspection team found areas of concern, was slated to follow the Fifth Street Bridge, which was reopened little more than a month ago. “We had it in our 10year plan. We knew we’d do the Fifth Street Bridge and knew Third Street
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would be right on the heels of it,” he said. The closure of the bridge is a precautionary measure, Kelly said, as an inspection team found corrosion in some of the steel support structure of the bridge. “We’re required by the province to inspect every single bridge in Cha-
tham-Kent on a biannual basis. Sometimes, we do it higher than that. This one was higher as we knew it would be in need of some rehabilitation,” he said of the 57-year-old bridge. “Structurally, it’s still sound. It’s the deterioration caused primarily by the salt on the roads. We saw some details that
caused concern and decided to look deeper and close the entire bridge.” A consulting firm has been busy examining every nook and cranny on the bridge to give the municipality detailed information on its condition. “They’re going through every single beam on that
bridge. We should know more (this) week,” Kelly said. He doesn’t anticipate the bridge will be closed for an extended period of time. “It shouldn’t be too long, but I can’t commit to anything until I see the report,” Kelly explained. Continued on page 2
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