Westbound lane closure has been lifted, according to Ontario511

NIPIGON, Ont. -- The Nipigon River Bridge has been reopened to traffic in both lanes, hours after it was closed for what were described as "maintenance operations."

511Ontario confirmed just before 11 p.m. the closure of the westbound lane had been lifted.

The Schreiber Fire Department earlier Friday evening tweeted that an expansion joint on the east side of the bridge had let go, lifting the northeast corner of the span.

The $106 million bridge had previously malfunctioned in January 2016 when the west end of the bridge heaved, lifting the deck by 30 centimetres. The cause had been determined to be a combination of three factors that led to the bearing on an expansion joint to break.

That failure led to a 27-hour closure of the span, the only Trans-Canada Highway link across the Nipigon River, disrupting cross-country travel.