After meeting with the owner of Timber Restorations, Provincial Conservative leader Blaine Higgs says the Hammond River covered bridge at the end of French Village Road can still be saved.
The provincial Transportation Department plans to tear it down because of structural deficiencies and replace it with a one lane modular bridge.
Higgs says that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to him especially when you have 59 other covered bridges in New Brunswick.
Save time, save money AND save our covered bridge ! 6 weeks vs 20 wks. $500 K vs $2.5 million. Why is the @BrianGallantNB gov’t refusing? pic.twitter.com/MQht3feWkH
— Blaine Higgs (@BlaineHiggs) August 17, 2017
He says it would be much cheaper than the way the government is currently doing it but it maintains that heritage and the importance of these structures in our communities and provides a solution for all these other locations in the province.
Higgs says he was told Timber Restorations could repair the bridge at a cost of half a million dollars whereas the modular bridge will cost from 1.5 to $2 million or more.
