CN to rebuild Steen River rail bridge

CN will rebuild the rail bridge over the Steen River in Alberta, with Imperial Oil and Suncor contributing funds to the reconstruction, the Class I announced yesterday.

The approaches on both ends of the 360-foot bridge will be rebuilt with concrete and steel and the bridge deck of the steel span across the river will be replaced. Construction should be completed by mid-August, CN officials said in a press release.

The bridge is a commercial link for many communities near Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. CN, Imperial and Suncor "are committed to helping communities rebuild after a difficult fire season," CN officials said.

“We are proud to be working with Imperial and Suncor in rebuilding this important link which connects northern communities to Canadian and international markets,” said Buck Rogers, CN's vice president of petroleum and chemicals. “We take our role as the backbone of the North American economy to heart and we are committed to serving the communities across our network.”

The Northwest Territories' government endorsed the decision to rebuild the bridge, which is used by the Mackenzie Northern Railway, a 602-mile Canadian railroad operating in Alberta and the Northwest Territories. It is part of a transportation network that extends from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, said Wally Schumann, minister of infrastructure and ministry of industry, tourism and investment from the Northwest Territories' government.

"This network has historically connected Northern resources to southern markets and plays a key role in the transportation of fuel and other essential goods that are forwarded by truck and barge to communities and industries throughout the NWT, and across the western Arctic," Schumann said.

CN purchased the Mackenzie railway in 2006.