Work to replace a cracked section of bridge decking on the controversy-plagued 200 Street overpass at Highway 1 in 91原创 is expected to wrap up Wednesday (today).

The provincial ministry of transportation said the damage to a six-metre slab of concrete was not a safety issue because the structural integrity of the eight-year-old six-lane bridge was not affected.

The crack was discovered last fall and a temporary steel plate was installed to cover the crack while engineering studies were carried out.

Work to replace the damaged slab began on Saturday, March 19 to coincide with the school spring break when traffic levels are lower.

The six lanes were reduced to four while the work was underway.

Because the bridge is still under warranty, the repairs are the responsibility of the builder, BA Blacktop Ltd. of North Vancouver.

In order to provide more clearance between the bridge and highway while keeping the incline as low as possible for vehicles, the 200 Street design-build project used what is described as a 鈥渇lat plate cast-in-place design鈥� instead of the more common system of precast girders that are manufactured offsite and lowered onto bridge supports by crane.

In place of regular ground fill, BA Blacktop used Geofoam, an expanded polystyrene product that looks like large Styrofoam blocks, to minimize ground settlement at the bridge abutment and reduce long-term maintenance costs.

The company did not respond to a Times request for information about the cause of the cracking or the cost of repairs.

The $31.5 million dollar project was built as a private-public partnership, where the private companies were given $15 million in the form of government-owned land near the crossing in return for building the bridge.

Construction started in 1999, but was repeatedly delayed because of clashes between the Township of 91原创 and provincial government over issues that included the layout of the intersection, the number of traffic signals and terms of the land swap.