University Bridge remains closed; wastewater clean-up underway ahead of inspection tomorrow

The University Bridge, which has been closed to traffic since early Monday morning due to a fire which resulted in damage to a sanitary sewer main underneath the bridge, will be inspected tomorrow. If there are no structural concerns and the bridge re-opens, traffic restrictions will be in place until the damaged sanitary sewer line can be repaired.

“Heat from the fire melted the sewer line, so until the repair is complete, a temporary bypass line will remain on a section of the east end of the bridge deck and on the north walkway,” says Brendan Lemke, Director of Water and Waste Operations. “At this time, we don’t have a timeline for repair.”

The City of Saskatoon has been working closely with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment to comply with regulations, and today crews are on the scene cleaning up frozen wastewater that spilled out of the damaged sanitary sewer line. The City will then be able to safely access under the bridge to conduct tomorrow’s inspection.

The walkway on the north side of the University Bridge is closed, but the south walkway is open. For safety, pedestrians and cyclists are advised to stay on the south walkway and off the bridge deck. The Meewasin Trail underneath the east side of the bridge and the walkway under the far west end of the bridge are closed. The Meewasin Trail on the west side of the bridge remains open.

Saskatoon Transit is affected by these detours. Transit service alerts and real-time bus information are available on third-party apps like Transit and Google Maps Transit on desktop.