The provincial government has upped its maximum eligible funding contribution for Big Prairie Bridge from $800,000 to $1.42 million, adding yet another twist to the ongoing bridge replacement saga.The new funding commitment was made last month by Transportation Minister Ray Danyluk and presented Wednesday to Mountain View County council's policies and priorities committee.It comes at a time when council is considering a lower-cost steel structure that would meet national engineering standards but would not comply with provincial building code specs, which call for cement supports, and would likely not be eligible for matching provincial dollars.The county had requested the additional funding from the province last fall after the lowest bid for the project came in at about $2.8 million in July and council voted to put it on hold for one year and re-tender it for a fall 2012 completion date.The county has re-tendered the project with a closing date of Jan. 27 and has also received a price quote on the steel bridge, administration told P&P last week. Those figures will be presented in conjunction with the tender results so that council can compare the two before deciding on the final design.
