Yellowknife, N.W.T. - The Deh Cho Bridge is still expected to open this fall, according to a Department of Transportation official.

The director of highways and marine services, Kevin McLeod, gave an overview of what the schedule for completion looks like and where the budget stands right now.

The estimated final cost will be around $202 million, including the extra money announced by transportation minister Dave Ramsay back in February, which takes the project $35 million over its original budget.

McLeod said a settlement process is in place between the GNWT and Ruskin Construction, the project's contractor, which includes additional manpower and equipment.

"An additional shift of workers, they are working now over twenty hours a day there, [and] more resources in terms of cranes and carpenters to get going. We needed an opportunity to deal with all the outstanding claims. We didn't want to have teams, legal teams and our construction teams, working on things in the past,” he said.  

McLeod said there are 35 extra bodies working on the bridge now and many of them are from the NWT.

There are target dates which still have to be met before the bridge can open, such as June 16, where weight tests will be done to ensure all of the weight is evenly distributed along the bridge.

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