e-mosty June 2018 American Bridges American Bridges | Page 51

Hunt Club Pathway Connection to the Southeast Transitway
project on several fronts. Special care had to be taken
with fabrication methods, in-plant handling and
welding sequences, given the dimensions of the three
deck sections and their relative flexibility during the
fabrication process. It was particularly important to
control the deformations induced by welding
operations of secondary elements to the top plate of
the deck.
Project Team
Structural Engineer: Delcan, A Parsons Company
Project Manager / General Contractor: Louis W. Bray
Construction
Fabricator: Canam-Ponts, division de Groupe Canam
Detailer: Canam-Ponts, division de Groupe Canam
This 246-foot-long (75 meters) pedestrian bridge was
erected over the Ottawa Airport Parkway to link the
Hunt Club community and the Southeast Transitway
in Ottawa, Ontario. The structure is a cable-stayed
bridge with two asymmetrical spans, one of 170 feet
(52 meters) in length and the other 76 feet (23
meters) in length. The deck is composed of three
orthotropic steel deck panels. The bridge opened to
pedestrians and cyclists in November 2014.
Initially, the bridge was not designed with a steel
deck. Because of a weight issue, however, it was
essential to lighten the superstructure. A lightweight,
economically feasible and durable deck had to be
developed and erected, within a very short
timeframe.
With special collaboration from Parsons, an
orthotropic steel deck proved to be the ideal solution.
Such a deck can be up to two times lighter than a
similar concrete deck and is designed for a service life
of more than 75 years. It is manufactured and takes
very little time to erect at the job site.
The fabrication of the orthotropic steel deck was
entrusted to Canam-Bridges. It was a challenging
For the thin wearing surface, the use of Bimagrip, a
highly resistant polyurethane-based product with an
aggregate top layer, helped decrease the structure’s
overall weight and speed up on-site work. Because
this type of wearing surface is installed at the