The Councillor’s argument appears to be rooted in the form of double accounting. On the one hand, SOTB’s budget fixes the bridge up front and then provides $10,000 a year for maintenance. On the other, the Councillor believes an additional $120,000 a year needs to be put in a fund (eventually totalling $4.8million), rather than relying on the engineering assessment done up front, with its focus on keeping the bridge “healthy” for 60 years.
• This bridge was gifted to the town. How did the town end up valuing it at $4.8 million?
• Our research tells us that other Canadian jurisdictions recommend capital reserves of 1.5-2% of replacement costs, which would be an assumption of a 60-year asset life, not 40 years. This is relevant, as our estimates for the bridge included doing work in year 40 that would extend the bridge life to 60 years.
• An associate in Calgary who works directly in Asset Management at an engineering firm tells us that Alberta’s blanket policies are a guideline only, ‘when it is not feasible to have an engineering firm specifically assess the needs and come up with a plan’ (as SOTB did for the King Street Pedestrian Bridge). Our associate suspects that this would also be true in Ontario. A key issue here is to replace the mandatory requirement for a capital reserve with a proper engineering assessment and an asset management plan.
• SOTB’s bridge rehabilitation budget has factored in $10,000 per year to provide maintenance to the bridge once it is rehabilitated. This would cover things like touch-up painting and graffiti removal. The repairs, painting, and periodic inspections easily extend the asset life to 60 years, as our presentation indicates. Without motorized vehicle use, the deck will be good for years. No salt will be applied and when it needs snow clearing, it will be performed by a walk-behind snowblower. Or, the bridge could simply be closed for the winter months.
• It’s most likely that at the end of the initial 40-year period, the town will have far more capital reserves than would be required to either demolish the bridge, or to do another cycle of replacing only what needs to be done to continue to have a pedestrian bridge.
•And remember, once the bridge is repaired and with a maintenance budget in place, this kind of bridge is good for a couple of hundred years as can be seen across Canada.
We agree that Asset Management and infrastructure is important to the Town and its residents, and tourists. But we ask everyone to look for secondary advice on the calculation of asset management funding, particularly $120,000 per year for one asset. We suspect it’s more in line with what Calgary and Belleville are currently doing.
Perhaps you have expertise in this area, or know of someone.
Ask questions of your elected Council. Write or call them.
Thank you for your support.
Here are a few additional photos from our team.
- SOTB Engineers inspecting 2. Critical parts of the bridge like this are in excellent condition 3. These are the creosote-dipped ties. They are in very good condition, as is this steel.
