Maxwell Lake Pedestrian Bridge Project

The Town of Hinton approved the replacement of the Maxwell Lake Bridge in the 2018 Town of Hinton Capital Budget. The old pedestrian bridge was slumping into the wetland, structurally compromised, and no longer safe for public use. 

The old bridge was removed in September 2018 and the new bridge was installed in February 2019. Due to higher than usual water levels and environmental challenges, the Beaver Boardwalk bridge replacement timeline was adjusted to winter as moving forward with the bridge replacement during the fall would have disrupted the beavers in the area building their food supply for winter survival.

The new bridge profile was raised higher to support the water flow changes in the Maxwell Lake from year to year. The bridge was designed to support and enable those with mobility aids to access the bridge, and to support equipment for boardwalk maintenance by Town of Hinton in areas that were not readily accessible throughout the year.

In March 2019, Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) visited the Maxwell Lake pedestrian bridge to review the work completed to-date on the project. At the beginning of the project, a code of practice notification was submitted to AEP who permitted the Town to go ahead with the project as presented. During their visit AEP reviewed the amount of gravel used on site. A couple of days after the visit, AEP contacted the Town to request that the additional gravel from the trail leading to the bridge be removed. This was completed and temporary steps were installed to support pedestrian access to the bridge.

After considering detailed options for the bridge rehabilitation, Council directed Administration to tender the project to build Boardwalk approaches North, South and West to the Maxwell Lake Bridge with limited plaza features as required for connectivity, with no modification to the bridge structure or elevation.

Administration tendered the project based on Council’s direction, however the tender received was over and above Council’s approved budget of $251,000. 

On February 22, 2022, Council directed Administration to retender the Maxwell Lake Bridge Rehabilitation project.