th

Proceedings of 8 International Conference

on Short and Medium Span Bridges

Niagara Falls, Canada 2010

THE CREATION OF A NEW BRIDGE AT A UNESCO WORLD

HERITAGE SITE

W. Victor Anderson
Delcan, Canada

Marcel Delph
City of Ottawa, Canada

Sylvain Montminy
Delcan, Canada

Jack Ajrab
Delcan, Canada

ABSTRACT

The Rideau Canal connecting Ottawa and Kingston, is a National Historic Site in Canada and is recognized by the
United Nations as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Delcan was retained by the City of Ottawa to create a design
for a new road crossing of the Rideau Canal and the Rideau River connecting Strandherd Drive and Earl Armstrong
Road, which would satisfy all of the many documented and mandatory heritage, environmental and aesthetic
requirements relevant to such important cultural and heritage locations. The difficulties of so doing have recently
been highlighted by issues in Dresden, Germany, where the design of a new bridge has generated controversy about
the possible de-listing of Dresden from the register of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

At this Rideau Canal and Rideau River crossing, we were aided in this task by Aesthetic Design Guidelines, written
by architects, which respected the many requirements associated with world and national heritage sites. This paper
describes the process whereby the technical design of a practical bridge was integrated with all of these many
requirements. The process whereby the bridge was finally embraced with the enthusiastic acceptance of the relevant
authorities including those representing the United Nations, the Federal and Provincial Governments, and by the
Owner and citizens, is outlined.

The bridge is a multiple overhead steel arch bridge with a 125 m main span and a 50 m width. The 3 arches support
a suspended structural steel grillage which in turn supports concrete vehicular bridge decks and footbridges. The
bridge design is intended to enhance the environment with a net positive effect, including almost zero effect on the
natural waterway, and a positive socio-cultural effect. The design process is described with a view to showing how
the many disparate requirements at this site, were respected to create an elegant bridge design which has a 100-year
design life and which we believe meets a reasonable definition of sustainability.

1. BRIDGE AESTHETIC GUIDELINES

This proposed new crossing over the Rideau River and the Rideau Canal (Rideau Canal boat traffic uses the Rideau
River at this location) represents a significant opportunity to create a distinctive new bridge in a quasi-rural natural
setting. At the same time, there is a responsibility to be respectful and sensitive to the Rideau Canal and Rideau
River scenic, natural and cultural heritage context, and to respect the UNESCO designation of the Rideau Canal as a
World Heritage Site and also designation on the Register of National Historic Sites, in Canada.

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Aesthetic Design Guidelines for this crossing were developed in a separate assignment by DTAH Architects, of
Toronto. These were compiled in a document which set out a comprehensive suite of aesthetic principles which the
architects believed were appropriate for this crossing. In implementing this crossing, the City of Ottawa and Delcan,
the bridge engineers, working together with DTAH, made every effort to respect the principles described in the
guidelines. Some of the key guiding principles are set out following.

1.1. Guiding Principles

The following principles recommended by the architects to guide the design of the new crossing were to the effect
that the bridge should:

 Be pleasing to the eye, from a distance and up close, by day and night;
 Exhibit an appropriate landmark quality that responds to the significance of the Rideau Canal and is
harmonious with its picturesque natural setting;
 Respond to the history of engineering innovation and evolution of high quality bridge design on the Rideau
Canal, yet be an expression of its own time;
 Create a safe, enjoyable and memorable experience for users, both on the bridge and under the bridge; and,
 Maximize transparency and openness.

1.2. Additional Design Parameters and Desirable Features Set Out by the National Capital Commission

The National Capital Commission also had a considerable amount of input to the definition of the features
considered appropriate and desirable for this crossing. Included amongst these were the following ideas:

 “Astonish and inspire viewers, in the round”;

 Enhance the experience of using the Rideau Canal;
 Avoid heaviness;
 Reduce the apparent scale of the bridge;
 Explore ways for natural light to penetrate the bridge;
 Consider the bridge as a possible gateway to the National Capital of Canada; and,
 Use naturalistic landscaping and enhance the experience of walking by the riverbanks.

A more complete list of the many guidelines and requirements is set out in (Anderson et al. 2009).

1.3. Key Functional Requirements

The bridge layout requirements were as follows:

 40.6 m wide deck to carry two BRT lanes, four traffic lanes plus turning lanes, two bicycle lanes, two
pedestrian sidewalks;
 Piers not permitted within the river; and,
 Abutments should not interrupt existing shoreline.

Figure 1. Functional cross section at structure

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The clearances requirements were as follows:

 Navigational Clearance: 6.7m clear height above controlled high water elevation, and;
 Pathway clearance: 3.0m clear height above west pathway.

Other important project requirements included:

 Bridge design life of 100 years.
 Consideration of sustainable features of design.
 Attempt to create a net positive environmental effect.

2. BRIDGE SETTING AND SITE CONSTRAINTS

Figure 2. Aerial view of the site and photograph of the river

The bridge is located near the south urban limit of the City of Ottawa at the location shown in Figure 2. The river at
this location is characterized by low-lying banks which are treed. The west bank is relatively flat and the east bank
is steep, hence creating an asymmetrical aspect to the crossing. The proposed new road crosses the river at a
relatively low level, and so in and of itself the basic crossing requirements are not spectacular as viewed from the
river banks. The views afforded to boaters on the Rideau River are characterized by a relatively long view as seen
from the north and by a more confined close view when viewed by boaters proceeding from the south. All these
aspects were taken account of in considering options for the crossing.

2.1. Keeping Out of the River

All permanent construction is kept out of the river, and a reasonable distance away from the banks of the river. In
this way, the bridge, and in fact the entire project, cannot be perceived to have any negative physical effect on the
river, the fish, animals living by the river bank, or any other aspect of the Rideau River. As well, the bridge will
then have little on the hydraulics of the river, and neither will it affect ice formation, ice break-up, or ice flow on the
river. All of these factors simplify the project considerably from design, analysis and approvals points of view, and
reduce risks during construction. For example, spring breakup will have no effect on construction unless the
contractor chooses to have temporary works in the river. All of these risks can be virtually eliminated by a decision
to avoid the river. This became a key driver in the consideration of bridge types and configurations as it facilitated
approvals, there being little possible objection to the bridge from the perspective of river hydraulics, ice, fish,
adverse effects on the shoreline (which were untouched), and animal habitat. With the many approvals agencies
involved in this project, this was a critical feature of the design.

2.2. Enhancing the Environment

It is often suggested that bridges should “blend with the environment” which, in fact, they rarely do this in a
naturalistic environment. The only bridges which really blend with such an environment, in the sense of melding
with it, are generally small, insignificant bridges that are made of natural materials such as stone and possibly wood.

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The more common construction materials for significant modern bridges cannot really blend with the environment
for bridges of any scale. In the natural environment, steel and concrete are anomalous, and in the urban environment
bridges are atypical structures as cityscapes are dominated by buildings.

This new bridge over the Rideau River, for example, with a basic required width of some 40 m, cannot blend with
the natural environment of riverscape and treed lands which exist there. Instead, our goal was to attempt to enhance
the environment, creating a bridge which is respectful of the river, and which is deemed to be a feature of particular
significance and beauty. For such a wide bridge with a relatively short length and at a low level, this is a fairly
daunting task which requires some creativity.

The opportunity for doing this arose in part from the essential desire of the City of Ottawa to create something
special at this site, and the desire expressed by the National Capital Commission to astonish and inspire viewers and
passers-by whether they be walking, bicycling, driving, or boating and irrespective of the location from which they
viewed the bridge. This was expressed by the requirement that the bridge have this effect “in the round”, that is,
from all directions.

3. BRIDGE CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

3.1. Skew

This bridge could be constructed either with or without a skew. With a skew, of course, it would have a shorter span
than otherwise, as one can see by reference to Figure 2. At the same time, the skew is not very large and the
complications introduced to structural configurations by skew were deemed to be more costly than the implications
of an orthogonal bridge layout. Hence, an orthogonal bridge layout was the preferred alternative.

3.2. Main Span

The main span was set at 125m in order to ensure that the bridge respected all of the design parameters set out as
noted above, and that it did not affect the Rideau River even in the 100 year high water level event. This was a key
factor in facilitating approvals from the various authorities responsible for the river and for the environmental
features of the river including the fish. Consideration was given to reducing the span while still keeping it out of
normal controlled water levels, but the more conservative approach of respecting the 100 year design water levels,
facilitated approvals with little additional span length.

3.3. Length and Width of the Bridge

Consideration was given to various options for the bridge but the general guiding principle was to make the bridge
as short as possible given the main span. This suggested that bridges with one span only would be preferred from
this perspective; whereas at the same time the requirement that the crossing be as open as possible was also noted.
Short end spans were considered to be a balanced solution.

A key design parameter for this bridge was that the basic deck surface is 40m wide including roadways and
sidewalks. Design studies suggested that it would be beneficial to separate the roadways from the sidewalks, and to
separate the roadways from each other, hence giving rise to three open-air slots within the bridge. These slots
allowed light to penetrate the deck in a substantive way across the full length of the bridge and at several locations
across its width, hence effectively down-playing the fact that the bridge was in the order of magnitude of a football
field of deck over a waterway which was to be treated with sensitivity.

The result was two separate vehicular decks and two separate footbridge decks with a total edge-to-edge dimension
of 50m, as seen in Figure 3.

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 Figure 3. Plan of bridge showing development of slots in deck surface

3.4. Superstructure Type

A range of superstructure types were considered, developed and reviewed. These included a suite of options
including above-deck structures (such as cable-supported bridges, arches, and trusses), and under-deck structures
(such as concrete girders, steel girders, and arches).

Detailed consideration of these and other bridge design options, including a description of the process by which
focus came to be centred on arches and curvilinear elements, as set out in (Anderson et al 2009). Various overhead
arch configurations were developed, as were curvilinear (i.e., curved soffit), steel box girder structures. These
bridges included closed elements to the maximum extent possible in order to conform to the requirement for long
life and maximum durability.

Figure 4. Triple overhead arch configuration

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A range of overhead arch configurations was tried and ultimately the scheme adopted was inspired to some extent
by the Lusitania Bridge in La Merida, Spain, an elegant bridge designed by Dr. Santiago Calatrava. It turned out
that the three slots noted above, intended to allow light to penetrate the bridge deck, were very compatible with three
overhead arches. This triple overhead arch configuration was found to be very much lighter, open, airy and pleasing
to the eye, than any under-deck bridge which we could envisage. It was deemed, as a result of detailed review by
the City of Ottawa, the National Capital Commission, and many other approvals agencies, to meet virtually all of the
many principles and guidelines which were set out in the original design brief for the bridge. The triple vertical arch
scheme was considered to provide an appropriate landmark bridge configuration responding to the significance of
the Rideau Canal. It was found to be harmonious with its picturesque natural setting and, perhaps most importantly,
to potentially astonish and inspire those who viewed the bridge from whatever location, whether on land or water.
The design met with great enthusiasm from all approvals agencies and the public, and it was accepted as the basis
for proceeding with the final detailed design of the structure. The essential feature of the bridge was, therefore, a
triple overhead steel arch comprised of welded tubular members, supported on reinforced concrete abutments. The
arches support a structural steel box girder grillage carrying a conventional reinforced concrete deck including
waterproofing and paving. The entire bridge is supported on two abutments comprised of reinforced concrete and
supported on concrete-filled steel tube piles socketed into bedrock. The bridge includes a main span of 125m as
noted, together with short 9m end spans at each end of the bridge for a total length of 143m. Flanking the bridge are
embankments and naturalistic grading. Hence, the bridge is as compact as possible given the various requirements of
the river crossing.

Figure 5. Triple overhead arches

3.5. Design Palette

The overall design palette therefore was resolved to include:

 Triple overhead arches

 Painted structural steel
 Stainless steel
 Minimum exposed concrete
 Naturalistic landscaping

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 Figure 6. Final bridge design

4. BRIDGE FINAL DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

There were a number of key tasks associated with the final design of the bridge, including the following:

4.1. Structural Design

The bridge was designed using an integrated structural model developed on MIDAS, which is a comprehensive,
three-dimensional finite element program that includes all of the effects including dynamics which are necessary to
the analysis and design of a bridge of this type. Detailed finite element analyses were performed where local issues
required to be investigated, for example, where hangers were connected to the orthogonal grillage steel box girder
members and for the complex arch connections. Check analyses were carried out using separate independent
programs and hand calculations. The bridge was designed in accordance with the current Canadian Highway Bridge
Design Code CAN CSA-S6-06.

The overhead steel arches are structural steel tubular members. All splices in the arch chord members are complete
penetration butt welds. The structural steel tubular members conform to the requirements of API 5L Grade X52
with a Charpy Vee Notch impact strength of at least 27 Joules at -30 degrees Celsius. There are stringent
requirements as to geometry so that unexpected out-of-plane forces and moments are minimized.

The hangers and the hanger anchorages are designed around the VSL 15.7mm 7-wire low relaxation Grade 1860
MPa strand system. The strands are galvanized. The individual strands are wax-fixed or greased with HDPE casings
on each strand, so that they can be replaced individually in the future if need be. The structural hangers are enclosed
in 5.5mm thick stainless steel stay tubes to provide protection and to have an appearance compatible with the overall

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design palette. The hangers are inclined transversely to the long axis of the bridge, instead of being in a vertical
plane, a detail that greatly increased the resistance of the bridge to lateral movement.

The structural steel grillage is a conventional structure but designed as an integrated all-welded closed structure to
optimize durability and minimize corrosion. The deck is very shallow, the steel grillage being typically 900mm
deep. The structural steel orthogonal grillage supports a 225mm cast-in-place reinforced concrete deck and a 90mm
rubberized asphalt waterproofing and asphalt paving system conventional in Ontario. With a view to optimizing the
service life of the bridge minimizing major rehabilitation and without deck replacement, the deck and other elements
of the bridge include stainless steel reinforcing corresponding to Type 316LN or Arminox Grade 2304 with a
minimum yield strength of 500 MP, where deck surfaces, curbs, partial-height barrier walls and abutment elements
may be exposed to spray or wetting from the roadway. The barriers on the bridge are designed as stainless steel
elements although galvanized steel is also allowed as a less desirable alternative depending on price and life-cycle
costing analyses based on actual tender prices.

Seismic analysis showed that the forces generated by seismic loads in Ottawa based on a site-specific earthquake
spectrum were considerable, and that these could be very much reduced by the introduction of seismic isolation
bearings. The bridge was, therefore, analyzed and designed using seismic isolation bearings. These had the effect of
reducing the seismic loads transferred to the bridge abutments in the bridge by a factor of 7.

4.2. Painting of Structural Steel

The structural steel is painted, the design including a system of low VOC epoxy-zinc, epoxy and two coats of
polyurethane. The colour selected is white, as this was deemed to highlight the bridge in such a manner as to
conform with the requirements of the crossing that it be harmonious with its setting but memorable in its expression,
and a bridge which is of its time.

4.3. Abutments

The abutments are very substantial reinforced concrete structures but they are purposely almost invisible as they are
essentially below grade. Landscaping completes the effect whereby these abutments are as limited as possible in
terms of visibility to passers-by. In this way, the lightness of the overall bridge crossing is maintained.

4.4. Foundations

Vertical support and resistance to longitudinal and lateral displacement of the arches, are provided by steel tube
caissons advanced through dense boulder till overburden to sandstone bedrock, and socketed into the bedrock. The
caissons are reinforced to enable them to provide vertical and horizontal resistance to the forces generated by the
arches. These forces are substantial and irrespective of analyses a conservative design was adopted for the caissons
to ensure that, even if difficulties are encountered during construction, the caissons will work successfully to carry
all loads required of them, despite the fact that the caissons themselves are vertical. The diameter of the caissons is
1830mm.

5. ERECTION OF STRUCTURAL STEEL

It is incumbent on bridge designers to ensure that bridges which they design are, in fact, constructible. Typically we
like to include in the design drawings for unusual bridges such as this new Rideau River Bridge, a suggested
erection scheme by way of demonstrating that erection of the bridge is possible and has been thought through by the
designers. There are erection schemes which can be envisaged here including erection by means of temporary
towers securing the arches, together with cranes or other lifting devices to enable closure of the arches, followed by
lifting of sections from the water and from land to complete the suspended structure. The bridge has been designed
to accommodate such an erection scheme and other reasonable sequences which the contractor may envisage.
Hence, the contractor is afforded some flexibility and, indeed, the contractor may elect to erect temporary towers in
the river in order to facilitate his erection sequence, for example, if he can obtain the requisite permissions to enter
into the water and if the timing of construction does not interfere with fish migration. However, we have not shown
an erection scheme on the contract drawings given the fact that contractors can, and in fact do, use such suggested
erection schemes to generate claims. These claims are typically based upon the suggestion that the erection scheme

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shown on the design drawings is not feasible or otherwise impossible and that the contractor, therefore, was forced
to select a more expensive different erection scheme. This can be precluded by leaving erection schemes off the
design drawings altogether. It is unfortunate that this is the case as the provision of a suggested erection scheme
might be beneficial but, for this bridge, it was decided to carry out the design work but not to show the erection
scheme on the drawings.

6. SUSTAINABILITY

From a sustainability perspective, the key elements of the bridge are as follows:

 Stainless steel reinforcing to minimize future repairs and deterioration and to optimize deck service life without
interruption to traffic.
 Stainless steel protection for the hangers in addition to the conventional individual hanger protection including
HDPE tubing and wax or grease injection for each individual strand which is part of the hanger system.
 Open cable stainless steel railings on the pedestrian bridges.
 Stainless steel appurtenances such as railings on the bridge.
 Waterproofing which may be considered to be superfluous given the stainless steel reinforcing but which
provides additional protection to the concrete in the deck.
 Double expansion joints including strip seals protected by heavy-duty finger plates, a design used successfully
on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto under very heavy traffic for many years.
 Closed structural steel members throughout the bridge including tubular members in the arches and steel box
girders in the deck.
 Painting of the structural steel in conjunction with the use of atmosphere corrosion-resisting steel where this is
available (i.e., in the structural steel box girder deck system).
 Extra- duty paint system where the paint can be subject to spray from traffic.
 Lighting mounted on the bridge arches so that the lighting is well removed from traffic and there are no lighting
poles to corrode or to be involved in accidents. LED lighting is proposed for optimal efficiency in conjunction
with the current City of Ottawa standards for lighting which are intended to provide lighting at levels
compatible with safety. The lighting system for the bridge includes lighting for vehicles and pedestrians, with
care being taken to minimize spill of unwanted light into the river off the travelled ways of the bridge.

Figure 7. Lighting mock-up with full scale partial model of an arch

 As shown above in Figure 7, this lighting was tested by means of a full-scale mock-up, a process which was
instrumental in helping to ensure that the lighting was optimized in advance and that deflectors could be
fabricated with assurance that they would work as intended. Decorative lighting is also provided to optimize
the appearance of the bridge at night.
 An overall appearance which is designed to create a positive effect on the physical environment and through its
ability to interest passers-by, to have a positive socio-cultural effect on a long term basis. This is an issue that

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 can be debated depending upon one’s view of the aesthetics of this bridge but we believe it can be argued, for
example, that structures such as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Eiffel Tower and other major landmark structures
have such a positive effect and that this can apply, perhaps to the lesser extent, to smaller structures such as this
new bridge. Precedents exist including the Humber River Footbridge in Toronto (Brown et al, 1994), and the
even smaller Mimico Creek Footbridge (Calatrava et al 1998) also in Toronto, which are structures which have
generated a considerable amount of interest over some period to time. This new Rideau River Bridge is
intended to have a similar effect from an architectural perspective.
 The landscaping has been developed to be as naturalistic as possible involving the reintroduction of native
species and the elimination of invasive species of plants and trees, the replacement of significant trees that had
by necessity to be removed as a part of the project, and the use of limestone blocks, for example, rather than
reinforced concrete retaining walls so that the use of exposed reinforced concrete on the project is minimized.
Pathways are provided to enable pedestrians and bicyclists to visit beneath the bridge as a part of the experience
of travelling the west river bank of the Rideau River. Pathways are provided on top of the embankment on the
east side of the river for a similar purpose where possible. These are, again, naturalistic pathways involving
stone dust rather than asphalt.

7. SCHEDULE

The bridge is scheduled to be constructed in 2010 and 2011 and we hope that it will comprise an outstanding
addition to the family of heritage bridges over the Rideau River and the Rideau Canal, and will fulfill its promise as
an addition to this UNESCO World Heritage Site and National Historic Site.

8. PROJECT TEAM

Owner City of Ottawa

Designers and Engineers Delcan
Architects DTAH
Lighting Gabriel Mackinnon
Geotechnical Engineers Golder Associates

9. REFERENCES

Anderson,W.V., Montminy,S., Noureayan,A., and Delph,M. 2009. Changes in Bridge Engineering and a New
Bridge over a UNESCO WORLD Heritage Site. Annual Conference of the Transportation Association of
Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Brown,S., Price,K., and Craig,B.I. 1994, Humber River Pedestrian Bicycle bridge. Developments in Short and
Medium Span Bridge Engineering ’94, Halifax, Nov Scotia, Canada, Conference proceedings pp217-328.
Calatrava,S., and Anderson,W.V. 1998. Mimico Creek Bridge Completes Pair of Beautiful Crossings. Developments in
Short and Medium Span Bridge Engineering ’98, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Conference proceedings pp 1455-
1466.

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