University Bridge closed after encampment fire damages sewage pipes
Raw sewage leaked into river, damages upwards of $100,000
An encampment fire underneath the University Bridge in Saskatoon on Sunday night damaged sewage pipes and led to the closure of the bridge Monday.
"University Bridge is shut down completely due to a fire under the bridge," the city said in a news release Monday morning.
In an update Monday evening, the city said the blaze melted a 400 mm sanitary sewer line under the University Bridge. It said raw sewage was being released into the river.
"A temporary 500 metre bypass line is now in place and operational. Arrangements are being made for a contractor to repair the damaged sanitary sewer line," the city said in a news release Monday evening.
The pedestrian walkway on the south side of the University Bridge remains open. The Meewasin Trail underneath the east side of the bridge is closed.
Director of water and waste operations Brendan Lemke said anyone using water from the river downstream of Saskatoon could be affected.
"Definitely it does have an impact.… We've contacted different places downstream that would be consuming river water and making sure they're aware of any potential risks," Lemke said.
"The amount that we have calculated is being emptied into the river. It's in the neighborhood of 0.1 to 0.2 per cent of the water."
He said the damages could easily be as much as $100,000.
"It's an unusual repair, so I'd hesitate to say exactly what those kinds of costs are. But again, we're tens of thousands of dollars for parts, materials, etc. So we could probably easily get up to $100,000 on an incident like this," he said.
Lemke said the city is working on a plan, but will need assistance from other agencies as city workers don't have a lot of experience working under a bridge.
"That's new for us and our normal operation. So it'll take a little time to get that assessment, but hopefully by Wednesday we'll get some sort of sense of how long this could take to to fix," he said.
It was unclear as of Monday afternoon how long the bridge would remain closed for.
The trouble started around 10 p.m. CST on Jan. 19.
"Crews responded and identified smoke and flames coming from underneath the University Bridge," the release said.
Russ Munro, the city's water director, said in an early morning briefing that the fire damaged a 400 mm sewage line that runs under the bridge.
"That became compromised," he said.
"The primary issue is that sewage is leaking, it's in the river. The appropriate authorities have been informed. We're working to isolate it very quickly."
Saskatoon Fire Chief Doug Wegren said later Monday that he believed the fire had been completely extinguished.
"We think the fire is out using our thermal imaging cameras. However, because it is a confined space and it is a long span and difficult to get to … we continue to monitor," he said.
Drivers and pedestrians are asked to avoid the bridge while crews are on scene.
According to a City of Saskatoon news release, wastewater crews were using modelling to ensure that a sewer line bypass won't cause a sewage backup.
The bridge is expected to remain closed for the rest of Monday, but the south side pedestrian walkway will be open. The Meewasin Trail on the east side of the river will remain closed.
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With files by Aishwarya Dudha