The Lakeshore bridge on the Welland Canal will be closed for a week starting Oct. 19 for maintenance work to replace the waterproofing system on the fixed span concrete deck — the portion of the bridge that doesn’t go up.

The closure is expected to go from Oct. 19 to 26.

Catherine Kelly, engineering manager for The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, said the last time it was done was 2005, and the waterproofing system is only designed to last 15 to 20 years.

“There’s ashphalt on top of concrete on top of a membrane, and we can see from the underside of the bridge that the the membrane has deteriorated. And we can see from the bumpiness that’s occurring through the ashphalt that the concrete has also deteriorated,” she said.

“So basically, we’ll take the asphalt off, then we have to remove the concrete all the way down to the deck of the bridge. And then we put a new membrane on and then we pour the concrete and then we pave.”

She said most of the work needs to be done manually with jackhammers.

“We can’t use big, big heavy removal equipment, because we don’t want to damage the bridge,” she said.

The work is routine for bridge decks.

“It’s big, but it’s routine,” Kelly said.