The Alaska Highway will be closed at Teslin Friday to allow a crane time to hoist up a Snowcat that's been submerged beneath the Nistulin River Bridge for three weeks.

Northwestel Inc. spokeswoman Anne Kennedy said the bridge will be closed from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., though the crane operator from Whitehorse and highway staff expect the lift won't take much more than an hour.

Kennedy said the plans were finalized in a conference call this morning.

A team of two divers, with a back-up diver on standby, will hook up the machine and be ready for the lift at exactly 11 a.m. when the crane will be moved into position, she explained.

The Snowcat is located right next to one of the concrete piers midway across the bridge.

She said the highways branch did not have a concern about the effect the load might have on the integrity of the bridge structure because the crane can be placed on the bridge deck directly above the pier.

The Snowcat went through the ice and sank Feb. 24 while plowing an ice road beneath the bridge to allow for the use of a scissor-lift needed by phone company technicians to work on cables running alongside the structure.

Three days later, while Bob Hassard of Deadman Creek Enterprises was attempting to use his Komatsu WA 340 loader to retrieve Northwestel's Snowcat, his loader sank.

Earlier salvage efforts using a special A-frame type of apparatus which was fabricated by Hassard specifically to sit over the machinery so they could be hoisted up from the river bottom resulted in the A-frame sinking.

Kennedy said Hassard has been able to retrieve the A-frame and was planning to attempt another go at the Komatsu this morning.

Officials of Environment Canada have reported there is no evidence of fuel leaking from either machine.

She said one way or the other, once Northwestel has lifted the Snowcat, it will be done with its involvement at the bridge and Hassard will be on his own, but the company hopes he is successful today.

After the Snowcat fell through, given that the next day was Rendezvous Friday and government offices were closed, Northwestel and Environment Canada officials agreed to leave the matter until the following Monday. The plan was to seek permission to use a crane from the bridge to lift the machine out.

On that Sunday, apparently unaware of the plan to use the crane, Hassard, who does work for Northwestel from time to time, went ahead with his own attempt.

While highways staff are not concerned about using the crane to retrieve the loader, they have ruled out the same option for going after the loader if need be because of the additional weight, and the fact the loader is not near a pier, she said.