Island Park Bridge

Making the turn
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Saturday night was a big night in Ottawa for civil engineering fans... of which I am one. I headed out to watch as the Island Park bridges on the 417 were removed and replaced by new ones all in one night. The highway was closed at 8 pm and then the old bridge was lifted by a hydraulic system and gently driven over to a nearby staging area where it was placed to be dismantled. A new section (built over the last two months) was then picked up and driven back into the gap where the old one once stood. The whole operation took some 16 hours and the highway was reopened to traffic about noon on Sunday. It was a real marvel to watch the 600 tonne bridge casually driven down Island Park and then - just as casually - a new section driven back up to span the gap. For the European contractor this was old hat but this was the first time something like this was tried in Canada so it drew a lot of "white hats" to inspect.

The event drew huge crowds (in the thousands) and bleachers were set up. There was a VIP area where large plasma TVs braodcast closeup details and appetizers were served... but I didn't order my tickets in time for that area. For the rest of us "fans" we stood outside the fenced off areas and marveled at the sight and enjoyed snacks (for a fee) from the snack trucks. There was much applause as the bridges started to move... but then people didn't know where to applaud after that - kind of like the symphony where a pause in the music gets a smattering of erroneous applause only to be greeted by more music. Some folks stayed all night but by 2 am most of the significant lifting had taken place and I headed home to get some sleep. Again - this hardly seems like a trip to the woods but Hampton Park does have a lot of trees, and paths, and animals, and things so maybe...