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The start of construction of the Berens River bridge in a corner of northwestern Ontario is welcome news for Frontier Lithium. For the Sudbury mine developer, driving a permanent road and spanning the Berens River is a much-needed critical infrastructure project for its PAK mine project north of Red Lake. On Feb. 23, Pikangikum First Nation and Indigenous-led Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management Authority selected M.D. Steele Construction as the primary bridge contractor. …The span across the Berens River — its design years in the making — will be an engineered mass-timber bridge.

• Ontario Government Press Release: Ontario Beginning Construction of Berens River Bridge Once complete, the bridge will be the first of its kind in Canada to integrate mass timber structural components into major transportation infrastructure, serving as a key connection point to Ontario’s remote northwest region. The project will create opportunities for harvesting wood in the Whitefeather Forest