February 26, 2010

MTO

The two bridges built for the initial stage of the Windsor-Essex Parkway are post-tension concrete voided slab structures.

FEATURE | Roadbuilding

Bridge work kicks off Windsor-Essex Parkway

RON STANG

correspondent

WINDSOR, Ont.

Initial construction of the Windsor-Essex Parkway has been completed, with Windsor’s Facca Construction Inc. wrapping up bridge and noise barrier work on the $15.5-million contract in January.

Work began in late 2009 and was contracted before the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and Infrastructure Ontario (IO) awarded a $1.4 billion P3 contract for the parkway.

The Windsor Essex Mobility Group (WEMG), led by ACS Infrastructure Canada Inc., Acciona Concessions Canada, and Fluor Canada Ltd., won the contract to build the main portion of the expressway linking Highway 401 to a new bridge between Windsor and Detroit.

The province called the project the “most significant single highway investment made in Ontario history.”

Construction of the 11-kilometre six-lane sunken roadway — including 11 extensive tunnels covered by parkland and nature trails — along with four lanes of service roads, is scheduled to begin late this summer.

But before that, MTO wanted to complete work on the initial phase of construction, a small segment of the overall parkway. This includes two bridges — one where provincial Highway 3 will pass over the parkway and the other a future off-ramp from Highway 401 westbound to Highway 3.

As well, work was completed on a two-kilometre noise barrier located next to a residential neighbourhood.

A two-kilometre noise barrier next to a residential neighbourhood is topped by transparent panels to reduce their visual impact, as requested by residents. The panels include vertical black lines to make them visible to birds.

Excavation was begun before the major parkway tender was awarded to “basically show that we’re committed to the project and wanted to have things move forward,” said Brian Kope, MTO area construction engineer.

The two bridges are 88 and 76 metres long respectively, and are post-tension concrete voided slab structures. The site was a greenfield and the connecting roads will link to a nearby roundabout, which will be built by WEMG once the construction schedule begins in earnest. The roundabout will realign a section of Highway 3 and suburban Howard Avenue.

Kope said that voided slab construction worked well for the curved bridges. “It provides durability for these structures.”

Parging and landscaping will be done in the spring by Facca. WEMG, on the other hand, will complete the expansion joints, pave the bridge deck, and remove several feet of dirt piled along the length of the bridges for safety.

The bridges won’t open until the parkway is fully completed, likely in 2014.

WEMG will also be responsible for the roundabout.

In preparing the site, an endangered plant species, the willow leaf aster, was relocated.

It was moved a few kilometres north to a protected natural area where the plants have since fared well. “There’s been a significant increase in the numbers of the plants where we’ve put them in the new restored area,” Kope said.

The second part of the project was the erection of the five-metre noise barrier. It is made of composite concrete, with about half the wall having transparent panels at the top to reduce its visual impact, as requested by residents in public meetings.

These plexiglass panels, three-quarters of a metre in height, also have vertical black lines to make them visible to birds.

The panels have also been installed along the Queen Elizabeth Way in the Niagara region, “so this isn’t a new design in itself,” Kope said.

An aesthetic feature on the bridge barriers is vertical fluting, which likely will be carried over to all bridge work on the full Parkway. “Normally on our (MTO) barrier walls, there’s a smooth finish,” he said.

Print | Comment