Crews working to restore bridges, roads damaged by storm
Temporary bridges going up, aerial drones being used to assess damage
The province says 80 per cent of the estimated 200 roads washed out in the Saint John region by heavy rain Sept. 30 are once again passable.
The province continues to assess the damage caused by last week's storm.
Alan Kerr, district engineer for the Saint John region of the transportation department says, "It is still too early at this stage to put a cost on those damages."
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Many of the repairs are temporary to restore access to roads, he said. Bailey bridges are spanning some of these areas in an effort to get traffic moving.
To get a better view of some of the problems, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is using aerial drones.
Kerr says about 130 people are working on repairs.
"On Monday alone there were about 50 individual work sites. We also have the help of approximately 40 private contractors as we make repairs to our infrastructure."
Donnie Briggs has been watching the progress in the area. With only a dirt road to get to the Evandale Ferry on the other side of the washout near his home, he's hoping for a speedy fix.
"Hopefully they can get this other one up here opened, because it would be a lot easier for us to use the main highways instead of our dirt road in the winter."
The transportation department says crews have worked continuously "though daylight hours since last week's storm and some crews will continue to work this weekend to ensure the safety of the travelling public."