RC110 JanFeb 2024 - Magazine - Page 14
TOP100 PROJECTS
SAFETY FIRST
Highway 104: Built for and by Nova Scotians by David McPherson
“If you build it, they will come.”
f HESE WHISPERED WORDS Ray Kinsella hears in the middle
of his Iowa corn昀椀eld in the 1989 feel-good 昀椀lm Field
of Dreams resonate when talk turns to Nova Scotia’s
Highway 104 Twinning project.
Number 78 on ReNew Canada’s Top100 Projects
Report in 2023, the collaborative infrastructure
investment featured more than one million labour hours.
That’s impressive for any major construction project—
where unexpected delays are common—but what makes
this twinning even more impressive is that it was completed on time and on budget despite a global pandemic.
Navigating new rules and protocols to make sure as little
time was lost as possible (the initial project start date was
only delayed by six weeks) and that workers remained
safe, adds to this success story. It’s no surprise to learn
the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. Kim Masland, is
not the only one ecstatic and beaming with pride over the
results.
T
David McPherson is the author of The Legendary
Horseshoe Tavern: A Complete History, Massey Hall and
101 Fascinating Canadian Music Facts. He is also the president
of McPherson Communications, based in Waterloo, Ont.
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RENEW CANADA – JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024
“The day we opened the highway there were trucks
travelling behind us and they were all laying on their
horns with excitement,” says Minister Masland. “They
were so happy to have this new section of the highway
open. Our Premier says he wants to double our population
to two million by 2060 … we need to make sure we have
our highways and byways ready to rock ‘n’ roll!”
Masland’s colleagues, who use the recently opened
twinned section of the 104 to commute to the Legislature
from Cape Breton, also cannot stop raving about this
incredible infrastructure feat. First opened in 1964, “The
104” as locals call it, is part of the Trans-Canada Highway,
running 319.4 kilometres from the New Brunswick border
to Antigonish, N.S. The project broke ground in July 2020
and the highway twinning was completed in July 2023.
The twinning (the construction of a similar or parallel road
to increase capacity to an existing road) saw the addition of 38 kilometres of highway from Sutherland River
to Antigonish. The project also included environmental
enhancements such as wildlife corridors and fencing to
protect animals that call this part of the province home,
upgrading and repaving the existing two-lane section of
highway, adding two new interchanges, and building 24
new bridges.
The project signi昀椀cantly improves the highway network
in the Cape Breton to the New Brunswick border corridor.
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