When many people hear the phrase road work, they think of the hot summer days. After all, the expression here in Saskatchewan has been “There are two seasons - winter, and construction.”

It turns out, winter doesn’t prevent road work from happening, although the projects aren’t quite the same as the ones you see taking place during the summer.

Minister of Highways and Infrastructure Greg Ottenbreit“Paving and things like that have to occur in the warmer months,” explained Saskatchewan’s Minister of Highways and Infrastructure, Greg Ottenbreit. While those projects happen in the summer, there are still a lot of things that can be done in the wintertime.

“With technology, the way culverts are put in now, we can punch them underneath the highway without interrupting highway traffic over the winter,” Ottenbreit pointed out. “A lot of the bridge projects, as long as we get the basic foundation into the ground, we can continue that work over the winter.”

With an ambitious plan from the province to upgrade and repair culverts and bridges over the next ten years, utilizing the technology to get some of the work accomplished in the winter is becoming a necessity.

“We’ve got over 2000 culverts and well over 200 bridges that we’re looking at putting in over the next ten years,” said Ottenbreit. He shared the plan for just this fiscal year is just as ambitious, with 39 bridge completions and 255 culvert completions.

The work is taking place across the province, including here in southeast Saskatchewan. Currently, there is bridgework happening on Highway 33 between Fillmore and Francis. There is also a culvert installation happening along Highway 13, near the intersection with Highway 28.

Ottenbreit reminds drivers to watch for the signs, and slow to 60 when driving in a work zone.