Letter from the Chair and CEO

One of the most observed accomplishments of the year took place on chilly November evenings when work crews pulled up and replaced two 10,000-kilogram deck panels on the MacKay Bridge. It was a complicated effort that put an exclamation point at the end of a successful construction season. The pictures of the workers manipulating the steel and asphalt sections into place struck a chord with bridge users, helping them understand the gravity of the work HHB undertakes.

While the deck replacement project and $28 million of maintenance work were among our most visible activities, they were just one feature of a year filled with accomplishments. We marked the return of traffic to pre-Covid levels, launched the back office and customer service portal and established a unique partnership with the Halifax cycling community during the bikeway refurbishment. As you will read in the report, we also saw our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion efforts thrive.

Behind the scenes, we marked significant internal advancements. We updated our policies, developed a new employee handbook, and strengthened relationships at internal town hall sessions. Our commitment to our team’s safety and well-being was evident through training opportunities that ranged from enclosed spaces rescue certification and professional development courses to organization-wide sessions on mental health in the workplace  and equity, diversity and inclusion workshops.

The fiscal year ended with a horrendous event 1600 kilometres away that will shape the future of  organizations like ours for years to come. In late March, the Singapore-flagged containership Dali lost power and collided with a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing the bridge to collapse in a matter of seconds. Tragically, six workers who were on the bridge at the time of the accident died.

The catastrophe sparked serious discussions about the safety of our bridges in a similar circumstance. It compelled a meeting with our community partners around the harbour and we undertook an internal review of our emergency response processes and the structural integrity of the rock islands around bridge piers. This incident underscored the paramount importance of safety in our operations.

And the importance of safety at HHB can never be underestimated. It is baked into our planning, our training initiatives and our response to every task, down to plowing and landscaping and cleaning the walkway. Whether it’s a contractor overhead doing cable inspections or a worker under the deck replacing a bearing, their tasks has been carefully and thoughtfully planned through a safety lens.

As we look toward the greater use of technology to improve the flow of traffic and advance the exploration of rehabilitation or replacement options for the MacKay Bridge, a shared vision is emerging, one that positions HHB to shape the future of transportation for generations of Nova Scotians.