VIDEO: Saskatoon’s Traffic Bridge demolished to make way for new bridge

January 11, 2016
A 100-year-old Parker truss bridge in western Canada had no official name until its 90th birthday, in 2007. Now, The Traffic Bridge – across the South Saskatchewan River in the city of Saskatoon - is no more, after its demolition earlier this month.

The Traffic Bridge, nearly 6m wide and 290m long and took a year to build, and was Saskatoon’s first bridge across the river when it opened in 1907. The bridge was built by Winnipeg city-based John D. Gunn and Sons.

It was unofficially known by many names but never officially named until it was 90 years old. In 2007 city council officially recognised the bridge as the Traffic Bridge.

In 2010, the two-lane bridge was permanently closed due to severe corrosion, mostly along the bottom chord and bottom chord connections, flooring system and deck, according to the historic bridge. It was then partially demolished before this month’s complete demolition done in two phases.

Rakowski Cartage & Wrecking said that most of the bridge’s structural steel, treated wood and asphalt overlay will be recycled.

A new bridge, similar in design, will be built on the same spot and should be open by 2018.

Related Content

  • Towers of power: California’s Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement
    May 8, 2019
    Challenging ground conditions meant a design rethink - and some engineering firsts - for California’s Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project* The Port of Long Beach on Terminal Island south of Los Angeles is the second-busiest container port in the US. It handles around 15% of all imported goods, much of it with Asia. As the Port of Long Beach was growing in importance over the past half century, the 51-year-old Gerald Desmond Bridge has faithfully been delivering thousands of daily commuters to wo
    Read More
  • Temporary bridge set for Tretten in Norway
    November 9, 2022
    The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has been installing temporary bridges after it closed 14 timber structures following the collapse of the Tretten Bridge.
    Read More
  • Bridge inspection: destructive versus non-destructive methods
    January 6, 2015
    Tens of thousands of bridges in the United States are in desperate need of repair. But where to begin analysing their deteriorating state? Roger Roberts* investigates tips and techniques for ensuring bridge safety The average age of America’s more than 600,000 crumbling bridges is 42 years – many are 60 to 80 years old. The situation is dire, with many described as functionally obsolete, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers’ latest edition of its Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.
    Read More
  • New international trade crossing linking Canada and US
    June 9, 2015
    The Detroit River is short, only 45km, and narrow in places, less than 1km. Around a quarter of the annual $658 billion Canada-US trade crosses over the river. That’s $160 billion worth of goods trucked each year between Detroit in the US state of Michigan and the Canadian city of Windsor in the province of Ontario - the Windsor-Detroit Corridor. There are several types of crossings, but the vast majority of commercial traffic must use the 2.3km Ambassador Bridge (see box). A new bridge was initially prop
    Read More

Highlighted Content