Love for a Landmark

Pomerleau is rehabilitating the Alexandra Bridge, which crosses the Ottawa River to connect popular tourist destinations in Ottawa and Quebec. By Staci Davidson

Crossing the Ottawa River and Canada’s National Capital Area (NCA), the Alexandra Bridge carries 10 percent of the river’s vehicle crossings each day, which averages more than 15,000 vehicles per day. However, because the Alexandra Bridge also provides an easy link between two tourist attractions the Byward Market/Sussex Drive/Rideau Street area and the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau 155 buses, 2,000 pedestrians and 1,300 cyclists also cross it each day.
Built between 1898 and 1901, Alexandra Bridge underwent a major rehabilitation in 1975, when the decks of all traveled areas were replaced. The bridge was repainted in 1995 and 1996, and it has received ongoing maintenance, but a cou- ple of years ago, the Canadian govern- ment realized the bridge was in need of another major renovation and upgrade to meet modern structural standards.
“The work will involve replacing sec- tions of the structure that are coming close to the end of their lifespan, and to upgrade the bridge to meet modern stan- dards,” according to Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC). “With this project, PWGSC is ensuring best value for money for Canadian tax- payers while demonstrating its commit- ment to preserving the integrity of bridges under its custody.”
The Alexandra Bridge, also known as the Interprovincial Bridge, is one of five bridges crossing the Ottawa River in the NCA, and it forms part of the National Capital Commission’s official ceremoni- al route. It has been designated a nation- al historic engineering site by the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering. The bridge is owned by Canada’s federal government and maintained by PWGSC. Pomerleau Inc. of Montreal won the contract for the rehabilitation of the bridge in February 2009. The company is known for its experience in this area of work, completing more than $100 mil- lion in infrastructure and civil works projects each year. Its work includes rehabilitation work on the Laviolette Bridge in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, in
2006 and 2007; the rebuilding of the Galipeault Bridge in Sainte-Anne-de- Bellevue, Quebec in 2007; and the recon- struction of the Riviere-Aux-Mulets Bridge in Sainte-Adele, Quebec, in 2006. “The experience gathered over the course of the years in the bridge rehabili- tation market is evidenced by the innova- tive design of many temporary solutions required to carry out the work; whether it be a structural support system, complex work procedure or an environmental protection measure, Pomerleau was up to the challenge to the satisfaction of the client and consultant,” explains Philippe Goulet, project director with Pomerleau. “Furthermore, not one single com- plaint was made by the bridge users dur- ing the construction phase, thus evidenc- ing Pomerleau’s commitment to working to minimize impacts on everyday users
and tourists, and therefore user safety.”

The Best Approach
PWGSC developed the conceptual and preliminary designs for the bridge’s reha- bilitation in 2005, and the detailed design was completed in early 2008. The govern- ment’s approval of the project came in November 2007 and public tendering of >>