The Merv Hardie ferry passes by the half-completed Deh Cho Bridge on the Mackenzie River at Fort Providence, N.W.T., this week. (CBC)

Two former officials involved in the controversial Deh Cho Bridge project blame the Northwest Territories government for problems such as design flaws that have plagued the $182-million project.

Once built, the one-kilometre bridge over the Mackenzie River at Fort Providence, N.W.T., will provide a year-round road link between Yellowknife and other North Slave communities and Alberta, replacing ferry and ice road services.

With the structure's design problems delaying the project, however, the Northwest Territories government announced this year that it will take over financial responsibility for the bridge, which was previously a public-private partnership with Fort Providence-based Deh Cho Bridge Corp.

Andrew Gamble, who was terminated as manager of the Deh Cho Bridge Corp. in February, told CBC News that the N.W.T. government took so long to complete an independent review of the bridge's design that the project ran into delays, cost overruns and contract disputes.

"They made a commitment to do a proper detailed design review," Gamble said in an interview. "And the fact that they didn't complete that until 15 months after [the] contract [was awarded] — I think they have to take some share of the responsibility."

Federal audit underway

The Deh Cho Bridge project and its problems are being reviewed by federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser, who is in Yellowknife this week as part of her audit. Her team is scheduled to meet with Gamble on Wednesday.

'It just became a real complex mess.'—Graham Dargo

Since construction of the bridge began in 2008, the project's price tag has ballooned from $155 million to $182 million. Originally slated to open in the fall of 2010, the bridge is now scheduled to be completed in November 2011.

Atcon Construction of Miramichi, N.B., was let go as the bridge's main contractor in January, and was later replaced by Ruskin Construction.

Graham Dargo, who was part of the bridge's project management team in Fort Providence, said he and his partner quit out of frustration about the handling of the project.

"I feel that the fingers need to be pointed at lots of organizations, not just the bridge corporation and its people," Dargo said.

"I think they did the best they could. It just became a real complex mess."

3 design reviews

In an email to CBC News, a Transportation Department spokesman said the N.W.T. government has approved the bridge's main design, but certain elements such as lighting and a catwalk have "not yet been integrated into the main design in their final form."

Territorial government officials had assured Fort Providence residents in 2004 that the bridge would not be built until the design was approved.

The bridge corporation had hired J.R. Spronken and Associates Ltd., a small engineering firm from Calgary, to design the bridge. Gamble said the territorial government agreed to take care of the independent review of the design.

The government's first design review in 2005 identified eight detailed issues, none of which Gamble said required the bridge's structure to be redesigned.

Two years later, the government's second review identified few new design issues, according to Gamble.

The contract to build the bridge was signed in 2008. A concession agreement that committed the N.W.T. government to $165 million in loan guarantees was signed in 2007.

Bridge corporation responsible: official

Gamble said he believed the signing of the contract meant the government had endorsed the bridge's design.

But Kevin McLeod, the N.W.T. government's project lead on the Deh Cho Bridge project, said the government signed those agreements based on the understanding that the Deh Cho Bridge Corp. would fix any structural problems.

"The Deh Cho Bridge Corp. knew that it was going to be responsible for the design, the build the operation, financing and maintenance of the bridge," McLeod said.

About 15 months after the agreements were signed, a third design review raised more concerns, resulting in delays to the project.

Atcon was preferred contractor: Gamble

Gamble has also claimed that the territorial government, under then-premier Joe Handley, expressed a preference for Atcon as the general contractor, even though talks were underway with other companies for the bridge contract.

Gamble said the bridge corporation was in negotiations with a group of other contractors who had agreed on a $135-million pricetag for the work.

But just as those talks were nearly complete, Gamble said the bridge corporation received an offer from Atcon to do it for the same amount of money.

"The decision was made to go with Atcon," he said.

"It was a joint decision, but the territorial government felt, I think, very strongly that their preference was to have a single general contractor."

Gamble said he plans to sue the Deh Cho Bridge Corp. for hundreds of thousands of dollars that he believes is owed to him.

Meanwhile, the territorial government is in the final stages of negotiating its way out of the concession agreement it had signed with the Fort Providence-based Deh Cho Bridge Corp. in 2007.

"At the end of the day, I feel that the community was pretty well let down," Dargo said.