Two-thirds of the steel and concrete support pillars on Edmonton’s long-delayed, $1.8 billion Valley Line Southeast LRT will now need to be repaired, the company building the project has announced.

On Friday afternoon, TransEd LRT CEO Ronald Joncas revealed 30 of the 45 piers will need reinforcement, up from the 18 initially estimated. No timeframe was given for completion of repairs on the project, which has been repeatedly delayed since breaking ground in 2016.

The announcement was met with further frustration from Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and city councillors, who assured Edmontonians taxpayers will not be on the hook for the additional costs.

“Like all Edmontonians, I am equally frustrated that the project that would have been in service two years ago is still delayed,” Sohi said. “And we expect TransEd to complete this project on time, which they (did) not, so they are solely responsible for the delay.”

He added: “The cost of the project is fixed, so it’s not costing taxpayers any more than what the fixed price contract was, but there’s no comfort to the people who have been waiting for two years to get on the train to come to Downtown or go to university and connect to other LRT and bus networks.”

Initially approved in 2009, the Valley Line has been delayed four times, with the most recent completion date set for this summer. In early August, however, TransEd announced that at least 18 piers supporting elevated sections of the Downtown to Mill Woods line would need to be repaired.

Further analysis bumped the total to 21, then the 30 announced Friday. TransEd — a consortium including Bechtel, EllisDon, Alstom, and Fengate Capital Management Ltd. — underwent a credit rating downgrade earlier this month as a result of the delays.

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