You and thousands of other drivers were funneled back into Winnipeg after a weekend at the lake. How old are some of the bridges you drove over?
The Province of Manitoba is responsible for nearly 2,600 bridges and bridge-sized culverts with an average age over 42 years old.
It's hard to give a precise average age because more than 200 of Manitoba's structures are so old that the government isn't sure when they were built, according to data obtained by the Free Press through a freedom of information request.
Every bridge and large culvert in the province's inventory.
1 dot = 1 structure
According to Statistics Canada, the mean service life of a bridge is 43.3 years.
The last time the federal government conducted a national survey of infrastructure, in 2007, Manitoba had the second-oldest infrastructure in the country. Statistics Canada told the Free Press it is set to release new data in the fall based on information gathered in 2016.
Meanwhile, in a scathing 2016 report, Manitoba's auditor general said the province had failed to inspect bridges and culverts as often as needed.
The Free Press asked the Manitoba government for a complete inventory of bridges, overpasses and large culverts.
We obtained information on each structure's location, age and its inspection cycle.
According to government's response, bridge inspections appear to now be up to date -- though the AG also noted in that nearly 300 structures were not being inspected at all because they were considered the responsibility of other departments or quasi-government authorities.
The replacement value of the province's bridges and culverts is estimated at $9.2 billion.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
An example of a large culvert on the Perimeter highway over the Seine River.
If you're headed to Saskatoon on the Yellowhead highway, you're driving over some of the oldest structures of any major highway in southern Manitoba. Between the Trans-Canada Highway and the Saskachewan border, the average age of bridges and large culverts is over 50.
If you're headed south to the U.S. border via Highway 59, it's some of the newest.
Below each map shows the number of bridges completed at which year.
Structures over 45 years old
Structures under 45 years old
Highway 59 (South)
Average structure age:
30.2
Oldest structure:
Timber bridge, built in 1959
Winnipeg
United States
15 Bridges built
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 75
Average structure age:
31.8
Winnipeg
Oldest structure:
Steel culvert
built in 1949
United States
15
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 59 (North)
Average structure age:
35.9
Hillside Beach
Oldest structure:
Steel girder bridge
built in 1961
Winnipeg
15
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 100 and 101 (Perimeter)
Average structure age:
36.3
Oldest structure:
Steel culvert
built in 1950
Winnipeg
15
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 8
Average structure age:
41.4
Hecla
Oldest structure:
Concrete culvert
built in 1956
Winnipeg
15
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 1 (East)
Average structure age:
42.8
Winnipeg
Kenora
Oldest structure:
Concrete culvert
built in 1952
15
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 1 (West)
Average structure age:
45
Sask.
Oldest structure:
Concrete culvert
built in 1918
Winnipeg
15
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 16
Average structure age:
50.8
Sask.
Oldest structure:
Concrete culvert
built in 1954
Portage la Prairie
15
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Structures over 45 years old
Structures under 45 years old
Highway 75
Average structure age:
31.8
Highway 59 (South)
Average structure age:
30.2
Oldest structure:
Timber bridge, built in 1959
Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Oldest structure:
Steel culvert
built in 1949
United States
United States
15
15 Bridges built
10
10
5
5
0
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 59 (North)
Average structure age:
35.9
Highway 100 and 101 (Perimeter)
Average structure age:
36.3
Hillside Beach
Oldest structure:
Steel culvert
built in 1950
Oldest structure:
Steel girder bridge
built in 1961
Winnipeg
Winnipeg
15
15
10
10
5
5
0
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 8
Average structure age:
41.4
Highway 1 (East)
Average structure age:
42.8
Hecla
Winnipeg
Kenora
Oldest structure:
Concrete culvert
built in 1956
Oldest structure:
Concrete culvert
built in 1952
Winnipeg
15
15
10
10
5
5
0
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 1 (West)
Average structure age:
45
Highway 16
Average structure age:
50.8
Sask.
Sask.
Oldest structure:
Concrete culvert
built in 1918
Oldest structure:
Concrete culvert
built in 1954
Portage la Prairie
Winnipeg
15
15
10
10
5
5
0
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Structures over 45 years old
Structures under 45 years old
Highway 59 (South)
Average structure age:
30.2
Oldest structure:
Timber bridge, built in 1959
Winnipeg
United States
15 Bridges built
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 75
Average structure age:
31.8
Winnipeg
Oldest structure:
Steel culvert
built in 1949
United States
15
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 59 (North)
Average structure age:
35.9
Hillside Beach
Oldest structure:
Steel girder bridge
built in 1961
Winnipeg
15
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 100 and 101 (Perimeter)
Average structure age:
36.3
Oldest structure:
Steel culvert
built in 1950
Winnipeg
15
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 8
Average structure age:
41.4
Hecla
Oldest structure:
Concrete culvert
built in 1956
Winnipeg
15
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 1 (East)
Average structure age:
42.8
Winnipeg
Kenora
Oldest structure:
Concrete culvert
built in 1952
15
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 1 (West)
Average structure age:
45
Sask.
Oldest structure:
Concrete culvert
built in 1918
Winnipeg
15
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Highway 16
Average structure age:
50.8
Sask.
Oldest structure:
Concrete culvert
built in 1954
Portage la Prairie
15
10
5
0
1900
1924
1948
1972
1996
Capital spending on highways dropped to $350 million in the 2018-19 budget. "Even if
 we were to choose to make no further capital investment in our highways and bridges," the budget stated, "we
 would still be spending over $450 million annually for years to come, just to pay for the decisions of the past," referring to the previous Selinger government.
...Alright, maybe not the oldest, since we don't know the age of all the structures, but it's the oldest bridge with a known build year. This woooden span over Pipestone Creek in the province's southwest pocket is the oldest bridge in the inventory, built in 1913 and last inspected in 2016.
Manitoba's structure inventory was obtained through a freedom of information request in the spring of 2018. The Free Press has shared the spreadsheet on Github. Year data displayed does not include structures with a build year listed as "0," which denotes the year is unknown. Data does not include structures maintained by municipalities or other government bodies. Budget data taken from provincial budget documents.
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