Sid Buckwold Bridge repairs near completion, $900,000 spent on pigeon, poop removal

The Senator Sid Buckwold Bridge is looking leaner after shedding its summer weight.

The city gave an update on Phase 1 of the rehabilitation project Wednesday. Everything remains on schedule, and the city said it will be able to fully re-open to traffic in October.

Part of the project was removal of  pigeon feces from below the bridge deck. In total, 635,000 kilograms (1.4 million pounds) of feces was removed. Thirty-six cavities where the birds nested have also been closed off to prevent them from returning.

Saskatoon’s Acting Engineering Manager Todd Grabowski said the city took into account cleanup in the budget of the project.

Pigeons used 36 cavities as their homes during the bridge’s 53 year history. The rehabilitation project closed the cavities to prevent birds from returning. (Brady Lang/650 CKOM)

“We anticipated there would always be some removal. The quantities were a little bit more, but it’s still within our budget allotted for the project.”

In May, the city said the total cost for the cleanup work would be $640,000. On the city’s website however, they said the total cost of the work ended up being $800,000 to trap and remove the birds, cleaning the feces, and building the barriers and fencing around the cavities. Approximately $100,000 was also spent in 2011 during the construction of the Rotary Park lift station to clean out feces from the bridge.

Overall, 2,300 pigeons were removed and euthanized.

Phase 1 of the project includes, deck repairs, new asphalt, new barriers, widening to walkways, a new drainage system, and strengthening the bridge piers.

Phase 2 is slated for spring of 2020.

The northbound lanes will close, pushing traffic to the opposite side until completion.

Overall, Grabowski said this repair will make the bridge “a lot safer.”

“We don’t have to worry about deterioration the same way we didn’t before. (The project) greatly improved the safety of this bridge.”