'It's going to take some time': Old rail bridge at The Forks to remain closed

The future of an iconic structure at The Forks is up in the air, as the historic rail bridge has been closed since June with no word on when it will reopen.

The bridge was completed in 1914 and used for heavy freight rail cars and was operational until the 1960s.

"Obviously, it's a historic landmark. It has some of that history to it in terms of its structure, in terms of how long its been here," said Zach Peters, the communication and marketing manager at The Forks.

Since The Forks opening in 1987, the bridge was repurposed for pedestrians connecting the north to the south.

"We have a piece of our site on the other side of the river too with great works of art… and the gathering space that's over there."

Peters said when the bridge closed in June, they thought it would just need some regular maintenance, but it turned out a further assessment was needed.

That assessment has been delayed due to a slow start to winter.

"We're now at the process of waiting until we can actually get on the ice, the frozen river underneath to do a final assessment or piece of the assessment on the underside of the bridge."

He said The Forks still doesn't know the full scale of repairs needed.

"It's going to take some time unfortunately and it's also going to be quite costly. It's a 110-year-old bridge and so any upkeep and repair to it is expensive."

Young-Jin Cha, an associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Manitoba, said Winnipeg's climate and the bridge's exposure to the elements are likely to blame for the upkeep.

"Definitely, through the 100 years, there will be excessive amount of deterioration," said Cha.

He noted the assessment would likely include testing the integrity, safety and remaining lifespan of the structure. He estimates the repairs would cost in the millions.

"It's expensive, but we need to invest in such amount of money," said Cha. "We don't want to have any kind of safety concerns to the public."

Peters said a ballpark figure for repairs won't be available until a full assessment is complete. If nature cooperates, he expects the assessment under the bridge to be completed soon.