RC105 MarApr2023 - Magazine - Page 29
“On a project with this kind of complexity and
risks—a critical river bridge in the centre
of Edmonton—we don’t hire somebody
for whom this is their first try at it.”
GROAT ROAD BRIDGES AND ROAD RENEWAL PROJECT
GRAHAM
Contract value: $45.6M
Prime consultant: DIALOG
Project owner: City of Edmonton
Contract format: Stipulated
Completion date: October 2020
Contract duration: 33 months
Fortuitously, a Graham employee
attending an industry conference met
an acquaintance from COWI North
America, Ltd., and the two began brainstorming, explains Melissa Jennings, the
COWI engineer who performed design
work on all of the major temporary
works. In a historic photo of a previous
construction project, the COWI employee had noticed a gantry crane system
being used to build a bridge. Could this
be done on the Groat project, enabling
year-round construction, uninterrupted
by seasonal and regulatory constraints?
Despite approaching the end of its service life, the City of Edmonton wanted the nearly 65-yearThe two companies had worked
old Groat Road Bridge repaired rather than replaced.
extensively together in the past, notes
Grundke. “They are really receptive to
coming
up
with
solutions
that are conducive to construclike Crowchild,” says Stephanie Grundke, Graham’s
tion, the people there are very practical, they understand
project manager. “But it too required complex temporary
construction and they tailor their designs accordingly,” she
works with a large focus on traffic management.”
notes. Graham brought COWI in as construction engineer
The work on Groat Bridge required a more extensive
on the Groat project, and the two teams set to work.
rehabilitation than Crowchild. Before landing the contract,
What took shape was an arrangement of two mobile
Graham had identified regulatory and schedule risks
gantries, each with 40-tonne capacity, mounted in tandem.
associated with the use of in-stream access to perform
They could be used individually to lift up-to-40-tonne
the major rehabilitation activities. Fish spawning winbridge deck panels, or together to lift 80-tonne sections of
dows would significantly reduce the available in-stream
the bridge girders. The existing bridge was comprised of
construction periods. The initial concept was to have four
seven spans and six cast-in-place girder lines; three girder
phases of in-stream berm during allowable construction
lines were to be removed in the first phase. The gantries
periods, dividing the project into quarters.
RENEWCANADA.NET
MARCH/APRIL 2023 – RENEW CANADA 29
