KITCHENER - Watching a demolition crew deconstruct the Margaret Avenue bridge piece by piece is kind of like watching one very expensive, time-consuming game of road hockey.

About six or seven times a day, a flag man warns that a train is coming and the whole operation has to pause, clear the way and wait for it to pass. Then the crew gets back to work.

The $6.4-million project to replace the condemned span will continue without any interruption to rail traffic rumbling below, part of the reason demolition is expected to drag on for about a month.

If there were no CN railway below the bridge, the demolition might only take a few days.

"Putting a bridge like this up is easier than taking it down . . . If there was no train, we'd just drop it down. But we have to take everything up," said Chris Spere, manager of engineering construction for the City of Kitchener.

"We have to stop when the train is going by. We get advance warning, everybody stops what they're doing until the train goes by, then we can resume."

When the workers, using train traffic schedules, get the signal that a freight train or a VIA passenger train is coming, a crew rushes to remove the plywood and tarps that have been put under the bridge to protect the tracks from falling debris.

After it passes, they reassemble the barrier, a task that will be repeated dozens of times during the project's time frame.

City officials condemned the 54-year-old bridge in June after an inspection showed it had the same construction flaw blamed for a fatal 2006 bridge collapse in Quebec. Construction of a new bridge is expected to start next summer and it should be carrying traffic in 2015.

On Monday, workers used concrete saws and jackhammers to begin breaking up the bridge's centre span. They will carefully detach its 17 steel and concrete beams, which have holes drilled in them so a chain can be fastened and they can be hoisted out by a crane.

The material will be trucked away and recycled by the contractor, Spere said.

The work can't be finished fast enough for Ying Chau. The manager of the Mei King Restaurant at the east end of the bridge, just off Victoria Street North, says the construction work is killing her business.

The number of diners coming to the restaurant has dropped off dramatically since the bridge was closed in June and the city erected safety barriers in front of the restaurant, she said. Loyal customers who do dodge the obstacle course to get to the Mei King complain about dust and noise from the jackhammers and heavy equipment, she said.

"So many people complain," Chau said. "It's very hard for us. Customers will come one time, but it's not easy to come in, so they won't come back."

The restaurant has stood beside the Margaret Avenue bridge for almost 40 years. But Chau is worried it may not survive another two years until the new bridge is open.

She's hoping the city can put up better temporary signs letting motorists know the restaurant remains open and also take steps to make it easier for customers to get in.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

"Everybody thinks we moved out. But we're still here," Chau said. "People see this, and they don't know we're still open."

Kitchener councillor Dan Glenn-Graham said he will speak to city officials about getting a bigger temporary sign for the Mei King. The restaurant may also be able to apply to the city for some compensation due to lost business, he said.