CALEB NICKERSON
WALTHAM May 2, 2018
At the recent MRC meeting that took place on April 18, the council of mayors resolved to seek a more equitable solution to repairs on a bridge over the Black River in Waltham.
Waltham Mayor David Rochon, reached after the meeting, explained that the municipality has been footing the bill for repairs to the bridge, which has been closed for days at a time by high river levels during the winter months for the past five years.
“What happens is, in the winter the river freezes and it blocks up and it comes on our road and makes ice,” he said. “It’s impassable for our cottagers up there and there’s homeowners up there as well … It’s kind of a unique situation where you have flooding in the winter.”

The bridge is located on Chemin de la Rivière Noire, and Rochon estimated that there are six or seven full-time residents affected by the bridge closures, as well as two outfitters. Though he couldn’t put an exact dollar figure on the costs of repairs, he said the small municipality it’s difficult for to shoulder the burden.
He explained that Brookfield Renewable Partners, a large energy company based in Toronto, own the main hydro control dam on the Black River, as well as many other assets farther upriver.
“We also have 13 lakes with dams that feed into the Black River,” he explained. “So, Brookfield Energy is the one with the lease on the lakes and the water … I’d like them to take over the total maintenance of [the bridge]. With the hydro control dam there, we have no control over the river.”
“We did have meetings with [Brookfield] in the past,” he continued. “Nothing ever came out of that. We’re trying to get one now, with André Fortin, the MRC and our council.”
He said that last year’s flooding did considerable damage to the banks and underside of the bridge, and they weren’t able to secure the services of an engineer in time to fix the problems.
“With the flooding all the way down to Gatineau, I guess the engineers were pretty busy. By the time we did latch on to one, it was too late,” he said. “This summer, we’ll definitely be attacking that.”