Ottawa bridge gets fix with 'sexy engineering'

A portion of theQueensway in Ottawa's west endwill be closed overnightSaturdayto allow for the replacement of the Carling Avenue eastbound bridge, in a switch so quick that officials have set up bleachers so engineeringfans can watch the action.

The $11.5-million bridge replacement will take less than 24 hours, but Ottawa's main highway will be shut down starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday in the area around the Carling overpass.

It's scheduled to re-open at 11 a.m. Sunday with one lane in each direction before re-opening fully in time forMonday's commute.

Brandy Duhaime, with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, said drivers should take their time this weekend and take alternative routes.Travellers are being encouraged to use Fallowfield Road, Richmond Road, Baseline Road or Hunt Club Road to move across the city during the closure.

Ministry of Transportation crews say theywill use"rapid replacement technology" to bring the deck of the new bridge into place.

Island Park and Clyde Avenue bridges have been replaced with the same method in the past three years.

Engineer Ken Polson said the relatively new technology will allow work crews to have a smaller impact onthe Queenswaythan would have been required in the past.

"Ten years agoit wouldhave taken two years," he said.

The old bridge will be sliced away and carted off on a hydraulic machine. The new bridge, whichwas built on a staging area next to the highway, will then be rolled into place.

"There's a fabulous team behind this and many folks are calling this sexy engineering," said engineering manager Peter Makula.

The technology isattracting engineering students whoaretravelling to the site with their professors and the city has set up bleachers to house the crowds that have turned out during past rapid bridge replacements.

The replacement can also be viewed on a live web cam overlooking the highway at mtocarlingbridge.com