HURDMAN BRIDGE

The Hurdman Bridge was demolished in 2 phases. It has 5 spans, and was 157m  by 38.6m wide with concrete girder and deck top spanning over the Rideau River. The bridge was part of the 417 highway and consisted of abutments at each end, and 4 piers with columns.

The total area of bridge deck is approximately 5800m2. The demolition of the structure included working from water level on barges, as well as on land. A ‘cut and lift’ method was used to remove the concrete deck between the 8-girder wide structure. Once this was completed, and temporary supports were installed, a gantry crane system (riding on rails) was mobilized to lift off each girder and transported to land for further processing. The gantry crane rails were fastened to the newly constructed bridge on either side of the existing structure. We had an allotted time of 55 hours to remove the 26 girders from the old structure. PDI was able to accomplish this safely and on time by utilizing innovation, technology and experience.