It should be clear sailing now for motorists using the Port Mann bridge in poor winter weather now that cable sweepers have been installed that will hopefully prevent snow and ice buildup on the span’s cables.
Testing of the new custom-designed sweepers is now underway.
Max Logan with the Port Mann/Highway one improvement project also says testing is underway on highly water repellent or hydrophobic coatings on the cables.
“That testing is going to take a few months but we’re confident the combination of the sweepers and the hydrophobic coatings is going to mean we’re not going to have a repeat of the circumstances that we saw on December 19th.”
Logan with the Port Mann/Highway one improvement project says testing is now underway.
“These were designed specifically for the Port Mann bridge so they have been specifically fabricated and they are built in three different sizes because the cable diameter varies slightly according to its angle so they have been built to make sure they appropriately fit the 152 cables that they’re being fitted onto.”
The bill for the cable sweepers is being paid for by the contractor.
The custom-designed cable sweepers were fabricated in B.C. with the contractor picking up the tab.
Not many will forget the ice bombs that fell from the cables back in December damaging dozens of vehicles and injuring at least one driver resulting in the closure of the span for a couple of hours.
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