Placentia fisherman Calvin Kerrivan wants to know from where in the world the provincial government is ordering parts needed to fix the town’s lift bridge that they will take a month to arrive.
The Department of Transportation and Works issued a public advisory Monday stating the Placentia lift bridge will remain closed to marine traffic for about four weeks until a cable reel replacement is delivered.
The lift bridge is in its lowered position, which is good for vehicle traffic passing across it, but the only fishing boats that can sail underneath are small boats (under 35 feet) that wait for low tide and take their masts down.
With all the modern transportation capabilities, Kerrivan said, fishermen there can’t understand why it will take so long for parts to arrive, especially at the worst possible time of the year for them — the fishing season.
“It is a racket and there is a lot of tide under that bridge. If you are coming in and the tide is coming in with you, you have to watch it. One guy the other day had to back the boat in to make sure she wouldn’t hook with this exhaust stuff on her,” Kerrivan said.
“The small boats, they have to go out crabbing with low tide and if the tide is not low until daylight they won’t get out until then, and then they have to wait for the tide to fall again before they can get back in.
“I was talking to the minister just now and he said it is going to take a month. I don’t know why. With the airplanes on the go now, and if they are getting the parts in the United States or in Germany somewhere, I don’t know why they have to wait a month to get them.”
The department’s notice states that the bridge was initially closed to marine traffic due to a damaged cable reel and an electrical junction box. The electrical junction box has since been repaired. The cable reel replacement had to be ordered in.
Problems began with the lift bridge last week when it stuck in its raised position and vehicle traffic had to detour to a dirt road linking Dunville to southeast Placentia.
The lift bridge — named the Sir Ambrose Shea Lift Bridge — was officially opened in 2016, replacing an aging bridge that was a source of frequent frustration for residents of the Placentia area due to repeated malfunctions. It’s the primary link between Jerseyside and Placentia.
Kerrivan said there are about 15 to 20 fishing boats impacted by the bridge being out of service.
In his case with a 50-foot boat, he had to tie up at Fox Harbour which is about 16 or more kilometres away. That makes it difficult to go about his work.
“I am finished crab but I still have my pots on (my boat),” Kerrivan said. “I can’t get her in here to get the pots off her so I’ll have to hire a tractor trailer now to go down and get my pots off — it will cost me $500 or $600 to go get them.
“I’m changing over fisheries now, too, so I have to put my whelk pots aboard and will have to truck them down to Fox Harbour and put them aboard.
“It’s affecting not only the fishermen, but the buyers on the wharf and trucking companies. Everywhere you look people are losing money because of that bridge, and that’s a new bridge, $50 million. Why don’t they have extra parts on hand?”
