HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, June 24, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Halifax Harbour Bridges (HHB) is pleased to announce a major milestone in the replacement of the suspended spans on the Macdonald Bridge. American Bridge Canada Company has been awarded the contract to be the general contractor for the project (referred to as the Big Lift).

"This is a major milestone for the Big Lift," says Steve Snider, general manager and CEO for HHB. "Design and planning has been ongoing since 2009 and we are pleased to enter the next phase for the construction."

American Bridge Canada is an international company specializing in bridge construction and bridge rehabilitation. American Bridge Canada completed a similar project that took place on the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver 14 years ago.

HHB invited three companies to bid on the Big Lift following a pre-qualification process. Technical submissions were evaluated first before the cost proposals were opened.

As part of the bid process contractors were required to identify benefits to Nova Scotia and Canada.

"American Bridge has a strong history of maximizing local participation in projects that we undertake," explains Mike Cegelis, American Bridge senior vice president. "We engaged the local community extensively over the past several months and are very confident that our local partners will be major participants and invaluable assets in the successful performance of the work."

For example, Dartmouth-based steel fabricator, Cherubini, will be the main structural steel fabricator for the project. "We did the fabrication work for the Macdonald Bridge third lane project in 1999 and we look forward to being involved in this even larger project as well," says Steve Ross, general manager for Cherubini.

The construction of this project is estimated to be in the range of $150 million and will be paid for exclusively through toll revenue and is being financed through a repayable loan from the province of Nova Scotia. "Our goals for this project are simple: to be on-time, on budget, have minimal disruption and to have no injuries," concludes Steve Snider.

About the Big Lift

Beginning in mid-2015, the Macdonald Bridge's road deck, floor beams, stiffening trusses, and suspender ropes will be entirely replaced. Once complete, the only original components of the suspended structure will be the two towers, the main cables, the cable bents and the anchorages. This will extend the life of the 60-year-old span and reduce maintenance needs.

"This is the largest project we have undertaken since the MacKay Bridge was built over 40 years ago," explains Steve Snider. "It is only the second time ever that the suspended spans of a suspension bridge will be replaced overnight with traffic operating during the day."

About Halifax Harbour Bridges

As the stewards of the Angus L. Macdonald and the A. Murray MacKay bridges, HHB's mission is to provide safe, efficient and reliable cross harbour transportation infrastructure at an appropriate cost.

About American Bridge Canada Company

American Bridge Company is a legendary construction company with over 114 years' experience building and rehabilitating complex bridge structures worldwide. Major projects include the Queensferry Crossing in Scotland, the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement in New York, and the recently-opened self-anchored suspension bridge on the San Francisco Oakland Bay Crossing. American Bridge has completed many complex suspension bridge rehabilitation and reconstruction projects including the Tagus River Bridge in Lisbon, Portugal, the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver, the RFK Triborough Bridge in New York, as well as the Walt Whitman Bridge in Philadelphia.  The Lions Gate project is most similar to The Big Lift, involving overnight "lower and lift" operations.

American Bridge Company's history, project experience, safety leadership, reputation for integrity and competence, commitment to in-house development of human talent, equipment fleet, and above all, its advanced engineering technology, make the company unique in the entire world.
 
For more information about the Big Lift, visit www.thebiglift.ca.

Please contact:
Alison MacDonald, Communications Manager
Halifax Harbour Bridges
(w) 902.463.2481
(c)  902.402.0773
(e)  amacdonald@hdbc.ns.ca

Heather A. Nicholson, Marketing Communications Manager
American Bridge Company
(w) 412.631.1000
(e)  hnicholson@americanbridge.net