Queensway section to close for 17-hour bridge replacement

By noon on Sunday, there will be a new bridge on the Queensway.In the meantime, the highway will be closed for just over a day while the old bridge is rapidly replaced.

The entire replacement of the Clyde Avenue bridgeon Highway 417,which istechnically two bridges because itincludes separate eastbound and westbound lengths,should take just 17 hours, Ontario's Ministry of Transportation said in a news release.

That will require the highway to be closed between Maitland and Carling avenues between 6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday.

The process will involve lifting out the old 650-tonne, 21-metre long bridges, carryingsix lanes in total,and replacingthem with new bridges carrying eight lanes in total that have been pre-built nearby. It will employ the same technology used to replace the Island Park Bridge in 15 hours last summer.

Replacing the Clyde Avenue bridge using conventional methods would result in two to three years of lane closures, the ministry said.

The process will be broadcast online for people to watch, and a link to the broadcast is available via the project website.