00:41 Ontario Bridge Split by Cold Weather Meteorologist Ari Sarsalari has the latest on a newly opened bridge to separate along a major Canadian thoroughfare closing on Sunday after cold weather damaged it.

Cold weather caused a newly opened bridge to separate along a major Canadian thoroughfare Sunday – a closure so influential that the local municipality declared a state of emergency.

“Canada has been cut in half,” Nipigon Mayor Richard Harvey told the media.

Ontario's Nipigon River Bridge was split in half after a piece of its decking lifted about two feet , according to the CBC. The bridge, which is a major piece of the Trans-Canada Highway that connects much of southern Canada from coast to coast, was closed Sunday afternoon, the report added. On Monday morning, one lane was reopened to traffic, the CBC also said.

“If you want to take something from Toronto to (British Columbia), it goes across this bridge. There is no alternative," Harvey also said. "Every truck that goes across Canada goes across this bridge.”

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Cold weather was blamed for the broken expansion joint, and the bridge is less than two months old , News Talk 770 reported. Commercial traffic had to be rerouted through the United States while the bridge was completely closed, the report added. As a result of the bridge closure, Greenstone municipality declared a state of emergency.

According to Weather Underground data, Nipigon reached a high temperature of 3 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday, and wind chills were about minus 10 at the time the bridge fractured.

The Ministry of Transportation told the Canadian Press that they have no estimate for when the bridge will be completely repaired and reopened. Pedestrian traffic is still allowed on the bridge's footpath, the report added.

Nipigon is a town of about 1,600, located just north of Lake Superior.

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