On Wednesday, January 3rd, a local Victoria writer published a scathing review of what he sees as a design flaw in the new Johnson Street bridge.

The article, entitled “Bridge design flaw hidden for a year, then given quick-and-dirty repair”, was written by David Broadland and published in Focus on Victoria magazine.

In it, Broadland points out a bolted-on plate on the underside of both the north and south rings, and comments on how it looks like a “quick fix” to a structural integrity issue.

He also raises a series of questions including the amount of time and money it took the city to build the bridge, and whether or not it was justified considering the bridge’s current “flaws”.

Not surprisingly, the article became hugely popular almost overnight and has been widely circulated in Victoria since its publication.

Lisa Helps responds

After the allegations that the city has not efficiently utilized its funds and resources during the construction and design of the bridge, Mayor Lisa Helps took to Facebook to reply to her critics.

I have had a few requests for the City’s response to David Broadland’s FOCUS article. Here it is. Please share it as… Posted by Lisa Helps on Sunday, January 7, 2018

In it, she addresses Broadland’s quality concerns, and assures people that “There is no design error. There was a fabrication challenge that was properly identified through the project’s robust Quality Assurance process.”

Moreover, an engineer posted his response to the article on Reddit, stating that Broadland “is clearly a layperson trying to come up with potential problems he knows nothing about,” and detailing his views on the matter.

Click here to read the full assessment.