The Connors Road footbridge, which connects pedestrians using the Mill Creek Ravine with the Gallagher Park community, has been replaced with a new bridge.
The old pedestrian bridge, built in the early 1980s, was removed as part of the Valley Line LRT construction in southeast Edmonton.
It was removed in May, as it was too low to allow trains to pass underneath.
The city also wanted to avoid the 90 degree turn on the bridge, to make it more user friendly.
But rather than throwing the old bridge out, the city opted to keep it and re-purpose the steel structure to replace the Blackmud Creek bridge in southwest Edmonton.
Originally built for cars in 1971, the bridge near 111 Street and 16 Avenue NW closed to vehicles in 1994 but remained popular among pedestrians and cyclists using the ravine.
The city says by re-using the Connors Road footbridge, construction will take less time and be more cost effective.
But moving a 42 metre long steel bridge in one piece wasn’t easy. It weighed more than 51,000 kilograms and required a massive crane to pick it up and get it onto a truck.
The truck that carried the bridge had 96 wheels to help support the weight.
It was transported to a storage yard, where crews installed new guard rails and a new concrete deck.The repurposed bridge is expected to be placed in Blackmud Creek next year.
The new bridge is called ᑳᐦᐊᓯᓃᐢᑳᐠ or Kâhasinîskâk. It’s a historical Cree reference to Mill Creek, meaning “slow moving water over stones.”
It was constructed in four pieces in Armstrong, B.C. and shipped to Acheson to be welded together. The new bridge is 59 metres long, 6.6 metres above the road, and now open to the public.
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