Centre Street Bridge Rehabilitation

The Centre Street Bridge, which was originally built in 1916, was more of a historical restoration than rehabilitation project. Designated as an historical municipal resource, the bridge which carries 34,000 vehicles per day was in need of a major overhaul. The City of Calgary took this rehabilitiation project as an opportunity to restore the bridge to its original appearance, including the famous lions. This high profile project included demolition of the 1974 and 1916 upper deck superstructrue as well as the entire lower deck. The upper deck was reconstructed to be 1.52-m wider, while the lower deck was built 350-mm wider. All of the exterior spandrel walls and portions of the interior spandrel walls were also replaced. In addition to the structural enhancements, architectural elements added to conform to the original 1916 construction included the new kiosks, decorative crests, buffalo heads, pier viewing platforms, feature lighting, and the replacement of the lions. PCL-Maxam, a Joint Venture acquired this project when the owner terminated the original contractor due to poor performance and a lagging schedule. PCL-Maxam, a Joint Venture was brought on board with the expectation of improving the project schedule and with the hope of completing it on time. Using a concrete rubble berm in the river and a two-shift operation, PCL-Maxam, a Joint Venture accelerated demolition and concrete work activities. The end result was achieving substantial completion a month early.