Bridge Maintenance

Red Deer County has more than 50 bridges and more than 100 bridge-sized culverts (those with a diameter of more than 1.5 meters) within its boundaries. The majority of these were built between 1950 and 1970. Since they generally have a 50 to 60 year lifespan, many of the structures have been starting to show their age. Accordingly, Red Deer County has been proactively replacing several of these structures each year. A rehabilitation program is also in place which can, in many cases, extend bridge life expectancies at a savings to the taxpayer.

Other related programs include:

• Yearly bridge cleaning on structures where road salt is used
• Periodic grass mowing around bridge structures to maintain traffic sight-lines, and to reduce fire hazards
• Formal inspections of bridge and culvert structures with a schedule ranging from yearly (on older structures) to once every 5 years (on newer structures)