Wood rot, insect damage highlighted in Fort Gibraltar walkway collapse report

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This article was published 12/10/2023 (740 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rotten wood and carpenter ants are the suspected culprits behind the dramatic footbridge collapse inside Fort Gibraltar that sent 17 elementary students and their teacher to the hospital in the spring, and has since shuttered the historic site.

“Two sections have collapsed within the north side of the fort. (It) appears (the) supporting beam was rotten and gave away,” states an excerpt from the City of Winnipeg’s initial investigation into the May 31 incident.

On the day of the collapse, inspectors found evidence of general wood rot and insect damage — “possible carpenter ants” — in a number of areas surrounding the broken platform.

The new report indicates surrounding structural components and parts of the fort fence were “more worn than other areas” on the Whittier Park replica fort grounds operated by Festival du Voyageur.

Investigators also concluded nearby stairs, handrails and guards showed “significant damage.”

The document was prepared by the city’s planning, property and development department. It was first obtained by Radio-Canada in response to a freedom of information request submitted by the public broadcaster’s francophone network.

Twenty-eight people fell roughly six metres when Fort Gibraltar’s elevated platform snapped under the weight of the Grade 5 group from St. John’s-Ravenscourt School that day.

The emergency resulted in the Health Sciences Centre declaring a code orange — a disaster occurring outside the hospital — to treat 18 patients who suffered varying degrees of injury.

The parents of one child, who broke bones in the fall, are suing both the city and the francophone non-profit in charge of maintaining the structure for damages.

Upon reviewing inspectors’ photos, entomologist Taz Stuart said he was certain carpenter ants had made a home for themselves inside the replica fort. Stuart also identified frass, powder-like debris produced by the boring insects, in close-up images of the aftermath.

The pest control expert said carpenter ants feed on wood, preferably aging and soft logs that are easy to chew through, in order to lay their eggs inside it.

“Over time, as they keep on making more chambers for their next generation of young, it could cause weakening of wood — especially wood that is rotten, water damaged or very old,” he said Thursday.

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Stuart said it’s important to closely monitor wooden structures of all kinds as they age. “And if it’s rotted, remove it, replace it, repair it.”

Festival recently announced plans to tear down the walls and walkways that have long been backdrops for weddings and francophone events, including its annual winter music and cultural festival.

The organization built the structure, a replica of two earlier forts of the same name, in 1978.

Since the city is not required to conduct periodic inspections of the integrity of structures, municipal officials indicated the last inspection was conducted 17 years ago — when a specific building permit required one in 2006.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.