Bridges

Bridge widenings offer asset owners the opportunity to extend the life of bridges that no longer meet community demands, while achieving economic and sustainable outcomes. However, bridge widenings are often more complex than designing new bridges due to various influencing factors that must be considered throughout project phases. This paper presents case studies of two widening projects: Baffle Creek Bridge widening, a steel girder composite skew bridge, and Dawson River Bridge widening, a transversely stressed deck unit bridge.

Both projects faced unique challenges but shared common learnings. An emphasis is placed upon key practices that have been proven effective, such as performing detailed inspections to verify the existing bridge condition, application of Building Information Modelling (BIM), structure analysis to determine compatibility with stiffness and force distributions, and construction sequencing and approaches suited to maintaining bridge access.

Despite the challenges, both projects demonstrated that when properly considered, bridge widenings can be an economical and sustainable means to retain bridges that are no longer meeting community demands.