The Saline Creek pedestrian bridge connects a residential development in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, southeast of Fort McMurray, to the lower town site. The pedestrian bridge has a unique tilted steel arch which supports the suspended concrete deck. The silver arch is 16 meters high and spans 63 meters.
Supreme Steel’s bridge shop engaged the services of Advanced Bending from Vancouver to accurately bend 80 pipe sections to achieve the required arch radius and the 14-degree tilt of the arch and Supreme Steel Vancouver completed the welding of the pipe sections.
This project utilized complex geometry to ensure that 14-degree tilt of the arch was achieved. The team used Building Information Modeling (BIM) to mitigate some of the risk associated with the complex geometry of the project. Clear communication between Supreme Steel’s bridge shop and the engineering consultant ensured that the complexity was effectively presented in the model.
Installation of the arch was completed using a 620-ton crane and an additional 25-ton auxiliary hook. Having three points of contact on the arch allowed it to be lifted to the correct height and adjusted to fit on to the pre-cast angled concrete base. Intensive pre-project planning aided in the expedited installation of the arch; originally scheduled for 20 hours only required eight. This project was truly a collaborative effort between Supreme Steel and partners.
