Active construction site: no trespassing

• We know that as work continues on the site people are curious about what’s happening.
• This is a friendly reminder that we have major work activity happening on both shores and the fences are set up to keep the public safe from the construction site.
• Some residents have ventured through the fences and are putting themselves in an active project site. We appreciate the curiosity however please respect the project limits and stay out of the active construction site for your safety and that of the crews working.

Construction milestones over the summer

• Main span completed – the central architectural feature for the bridge or the steel main span over the navigation channel is now complete, another milestone for the project. This architectural feature consists of 48 individual steel sections lifted into place with cranes and bolted together with precision. All the steel for the main span was fabricated by Walters Group based in Hamilton, Ontario. Two lookouts will also be built along the main span beside the multi-use pathway so residents can enjoy views of the south side of the Cataraqui River.

• Concrete girders – the project is moving faster. Every day we are inching closer and closer to having the two sides connect. We are starting to see the soft curve of the bridge as well. Currently 90 of the 95 concrete girders are installed and the remaining girders are expected to be completed by the end of August. Once complete, residents will be able to see the full span of the bridge connecting the east and the west shores over the Cataraqui River.

Eco-passages

•  Five eco-passages have been built at certain points along the rock causeway. 
• The eco-passages allow for the safe and active passage of turtles and other wildlife species. These wildlife crossings allow turtles and other wildlife to move up and down the Cataraqui River across the worksite.

Extended work hours

• As the project team heads into the fall and the winter of 2020, in-water construction activities will continue to be a major focus. Earlier this Spring, the team started extended working hours, Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. to support on-going work for building the pier foundations for the bridge.
• Prior to starting extended work hours, the team conducted a nighttime construction noise impact assessment to determine potential impacts on nearby residential areas and to understand the effect of the extended work hours. The results of that study indicated noise levels will be within acceptable levels as per provincial guidelines. 
• Moving into fall and winter, these extended work hours will continue with additional limited low noise activities continuing up to 3 a.m.
• Construction activities will continue with what you have been currently hearing and seeing from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. About a five-person crew will be working with equipment to continue building the west shore pier foundations. Limited low noise generating activities will continue from 10 p.m. up to 3 a.m.
• We want you to know that activities occurring up to a maximum of 3 a.m. will be minor in nature and will not include loud construction activity such as drilling operations. The kind of limited low noise generating activities that will be occurring is in relation to preparing work for construction activities the following day. Nighttime construction noise mitigation measures are being implemented.

Noise mitigation

• To help with noise levels from construction activities, we have implemented several noise mitigation measures, including:

1. Permanent noise fences on the east and west shores. Permanent noise fences were designed with higher acoustic attenuation quality than temporary construction barriers. This means a greater reduction in noise to surrounding residents throughout construction. A noise fence has been installed on the west shore and crews are now working to install the east shore noise fence.

2. Use of quieter back-up alarms on certain equipment and trucks. Equipment will be equipped with broadband back-up alarms that don’t project sound as far as regular back-up alarms that traditionally have the 'beep' 'beep' noise. The broadband back-up alarm will diminish the back-up noise level significantly.

3. Strict compliance for dump trucks to avoid slamming tailgates or slamming the back of the truck when offloading rocks.

4. Installation of noise monitoring equipment to monitor noise levels throughout off-hour construction

COVID protocols

The City of Kingston has been closely monitoring the evolving situation with COVID-19 and adhering to all federal, provincial and municipal public health guidelines and recommendations. Based on the Ontario Government’s latest announcement for essential infrastructure projects, construction of the Third Crossing will continue as scheduled. Similar to the first province-wide lockdown in the Spring of 2020, we will continue to monitor this evolving situation.

The safety and well-being of our workers, the public, City staff, and everyone we work with remains our top priority. We will review and monitor the new regulations released by our public health partners and work with our broader project team to adjust as necessary. Work on the bridge has steadily continued throughout the last year and will continue into 2021.

To safeguard the public, City staff and all contract and subcontractors, the Third Crossing project team has made some work adjustments to allow people to work from home where possible and to encourage physical distancing in our work sites. Some further work adjustments have been made based on public health guidelines and are listed below:

• Daily COVID-19 screening for all people entering the site
• Masking where physical distancing is not possible – indoors and outdoors
• Increased hand washing and sanitization protocols;
• Limiting inter personnel interactions on site;
• Meetings held by teleconference or video conference;
• Any required on site meetings held outdoors with personal separation;
• Modified work schedules to limit unnecessary personnel interactions. ​​​​​​​

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