Construction ramped up this week on the culvert replacement on Highway 575 after being delayed, and the detour on 575 is now in effect.
The provincial project to rebuild Ploeg Street Crossing connecting Highway 575 and Newcastle Drive and replacing a culvert on Highway 575 is underway. Originally the project was scheduled to be completed in September.
“There was a slowdown of the manufacturer of the culvert segments,” said Drumheller CAO Darryl Drohomerski. “It takes some time to build those, and balance that with everything else in the southern area of the province, apparently there is a lot of work going on.”
He tells the Mail they have received some of the segments needed to start the replacement of the concrete culverts.
“The reason the culvert is being replaced is the corrugated steel pipe is corroded to the point that if left undone you would probably have a failure on the road in the next couple of years. For these kinds of projects, they are putting concrete in because they will last longer.”
The weather may also play a factor.
“The more stuff we see from the sky, the harder it is. They could close it off, but they prefer to work on it in a dry environment, as opposed to having water running through it,” he said.
Watch for signage as the project continues. There will be a detour along 9 Street SW and Premier Road.
