special 2001 edition of the History Notes Canadian Civil Engineer

he history of the profession himself “Civil Engineer”. Having major emphasis in the training of an of Civil Engineering can be been elected a Fellow of the Royal engineer was the gaining of practical T traced back for many Society (FRS) at the age of 29, he skills, usually through apprentice- centuries, in much further had founded a Society of Engineers, ship to a fully qualified engineer as than the recorded history of self- in 1771. After his death, in 1792, his “pupil”, later called his

Casimir Gzowski Thomas C. Keefer A Background History of the CSCE By Peter R. Hart, FCSCE

Canadian Pacific Archive, image no. A649.

serving groups that developed, in the the Society of Engineers was re- “engineer-in-training”. This tenth century, into the guilds and, established and held its first method allowed the acquisition of subsequently, the learned societies meeting, as the Society of Civil the necessary academic skills for the and trade unions. Engineers, on April 15th, 1793. design arts to be obtained at the There is a certain amount of This Society eventually became the same time and, not surprisingly, controversy over the origin of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) North American engineering word “engineer” and it seems most which received a Royal Charter in training closely followed this pattern. likely to have come from the Latin 1825. In the United States, the Franklin word for an invention or engine, Engineers in non-English Institute (established in 1824) “tingenium”, which not only appears speaking European countries also attracted many engineers and, in to be the root of the English word formed special interest groups which 1852, a group of engineers met in “engineer” but also the French word were rather more academic in New York which resulted in the “ingénieur”. However, the asset that nature, due mainly to the different establishment of the American most engineers have, ingenuity, education received by engineers in Society of Engineers and Architects appears to come from the Latin word Europe, where the engineer was which was renamed the American “ingenuita”. Both “ingenuita” and trained very thoroughly academically Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) “ingenium” have a common Latin with little or no practical working in 1869. root – “gen” (to bear, to give birth to, experience. This practical side of In British North America, the to produce). engineering was provided by the political advantages of a unified John Smeaton, in 1 782, was the artisan who had trained as a pupil on country “from sea to sea” in part to first engineer to call and sign the job. However, in Great Britain a provide a stop to the territorial ambitions of the United States of recently established late-19th C. Keefer was named Founding America, were realized and, in 1867, century programs were looking for President (throughout this mid- to The British North America Act recognition so that, after late-19th century period Keefer had (BNA) was passed by the British Confederation, the spirit of been actively promoting some type of Parliament in Westminster. Canadian nationalism rose in the professional society, so that his In 1931, as the result of the Statute engineering profession. installation as the Founding of Westminster, the British In 1881, a bill to regulate civil President was highly appropriate). Parliament gave up all sovereign engineers in failed to gain Casimir Gzowski, John Kennedy and legislative authority over but, the necessary support to become law. Walter Shanly were the vice- at the request of the provinces, they F.W. Plunkett probably influenced presidents, and Henry T. Bovey the retained the right to approve any this bill. He was an Irish-Canadian Secretary and Treasurer. MacDougall amendments to the BNA. In 1981 who, in 1880, had started to interest was elected to the Society’s Council. the Canada Act was passed which his colleagues in a national group of The Society, which had members transferred the British North engineers, unfortunately unsuccess- from the several different America Act into the Constitution of fully. In 1886 Alan MacDougall, a engineering disciplines extant at that Canada, together with a Charter of Scots-Canadian, tried to do the same time, made its headquarters in Rights and an amending procedure. and meetings were held in , Montréal. This became law on April 17th, 1982. Montréal and Ottawa to explore the The BNA had assigned certain possibilities of such a group. The legislative powers, including the Montréal meeting, chaired by regulation of the professions for the MacDougall, passed a resolution he First World War marked the protection of the public, to the to form a society of engineers. A T emergence of civil engineering provinces in order to govern the vast, preliminary meeting was held later as a specific discipline in Canada largely unpopulated, country it had in that year to arrange for the along with mechanical and electrical created. establishment of the society, its engineering. Following a report Prior to Confederation, engineers name and its constitution. This tabled by H.E.T. Haultain, in 1917, working in the Provinces and meeting was attended by represen- the Society decided to change its Territories of Canada had tried to set tatives from Montréal, Ottawa name to the Engineering Institute up learned societies with little and Toronto. of Canada (EIC) in order to continue success. Sir Sandford Fleming was In January 1887, a group of to represent all engineering closely associated with the Canadian engineers met, again in Montréal, disciplines, although the civil Institute, founded in 1849, which, to elect members to the newly- engineering membership was in the having broadened its areas of established Canadian Society of Civil majority. The 1887 Act was amended interest, became incorporated in Engineers (CSCE). Members (162) in April 1918 to enable this change to 1851 as the Royal Canadian Institute, were duly elected and 126 more were the Charter. “more particularly for promoting added when the First General There was a great deal of debate in surveying engineering and architecture” Meeting of the Society was held, in the early days of the Canadian Society as Thomas Keefer states in the first Montréal, on February 24th, 1887. of Civil Engineers concerning the presidential address to the newly Officers were elected and an qualifications and expertise that a formed Canadian Society of Civil application to Parliament for a member of the public should seek Engineers in 1888. Charter was approved. As the result from an engineer and, at that time, The formation of Canadian of the efforts of the Irish-Canadian the Society decided that the engineering educational establish- civil engineer Walter Shanly (the regulation of engineers and the ments started in the mid-19th subject, with his brother Frank, of a practice of engineering, by means of century with the first program in recent book by Richard White) who, provincial legislation under the BNA, civil engineering being given at as a Member of Parliament, was not in the best interest of its King’s College. in Fredericton, in sponsored the Private Member’s Bill members. 1854: this college later became part to which Royal Assent was given on In spite of this the young Province of the University of New Brunswick. June 23rd, 1887, the Society obtained of Manitoba appears to have been the 2 The graduates of this and the other its Charter. Two days later, Thomas first to regulate engineering, as it passed “An Act respecting the Attempts to consolidate the Mechanical Engineering (CSME) and Profession of Civil Engineer”, engineering profession into a single the formation of the CSME in in 1896: national organization have always January 1970 were approved. In this failed to gain the required support. way the EIC responded to the major “…for the better protection of the The first, in the 1930s, did not act as Canadian engineering disciplines in public’s interests and more divisively as the second, in 1957, the early 1970s by becoming a particularly for promoting the when, in spite of the EIC and the federation of constituent societies; acquisition of that species of Canadian Council of Professional the CSMF in 1970; the Canadian knowledge which has reference to Engineers (CCPE) forming Geotechnical Society (CGS) (having the profession of a Civil Engineer… committees to study the proposal in already been loosely established and and in order to enable persons depth, the voting (the CCPE functioning since the 1950s as a requiring professional aid in any membership being in favour and the group interested in Soil Mechanics, work, to which such knowledge of EIC opposed) was against the primarily as the result of the efforts Civil Engineering is applicable or concept. of Robert Legget) in January 1972; necessary, to distinguish between As a result of the Second World the Canadian Society for Civil qualified and unqualified Civil War and subsequent Cold War, many Engineering in June 1972 and, later, Engineers.” small specialized learned societies the Canadian Society for Electrical had been formed, causing splintering Engineering. This act, known as “The Manitoba within some of the more traditional The slight change in the names, Civil Engineers Act”, provided that: engineering disciplines. Canada was from Canadian Society of “Xxxx” no exception to this trend, which Engineers to Canadian Society for “…no person shall be entitled was, in some cases, pushed by a “Xxxx” Engineering, was necessitated within this Province to take or use nationalistic reaction to the plethora by the recognition that a constituent the name and title of ‘Civil of groups, based in the United States society’s membership could include Engineer’ implying that he is a of America, who regarded Canada as engineers, and possibly others, member of the said [Canadian] part of their territory. The Institute, awaiting registration or not Society of Civil Engineers, or act as concerned with the further registered as professional engineers Engineer… [on] any work upon splintering of the profession in in Canada. In Québec the act estab- which public money is expended… Canada by foreign specialized lishing l’Ordre des ingénieurs du unless such person is a member of groups, encouraged the formation of Québec (OIQ) restricted the use of the Society...” technical divisions, covering civil, the word “engineer”, and therefore, mechanical, electrical, chemical, any member of a society using that The aftermath of the First World mining and hydro-electrical word in their membership desig- War saw the need for an attitudinal engineering within the Institute. In nation, who was not registered as a change amongst engineers and, the late 1960s the EIC recommended professional engineer, could be shortly after the CSCE became the that support and encouragement be liable to legal action. Other provin- EIC, it was decided at a Special given to its technical divisions to cial associations also expressed Meeting held in in 1920, become autonomous constituent concern with the name. that a registry of properly qualified societies operating under the The CSCE was, therefore, re- engineers was desirable and that the Institute’s charter. A steering established in 1972 and is looking best way to achieve this was to committee was set up, in 1968, to forward to its sesqui-centennial encourage the provinces to use their develop a proposal for a constituent in 2037. powers, granted under the BNA, to society for mechanical engineering set up registration bodies to become and an institute committee was self-governing associations of established to ensure that the EIC’s professional engineers. Incorpora- by-laws etc. were conducive to the tion of these provincial registration establishment of constituent bodies started in the 1920s and many societies within the Institute. The of them have now celebrated their proposed Constitution and By-laws 75th anniversary. of the Canadian Society for 3 anada is favoured with an navigation improvements on the is now a popular recreational linear inland waterways and St. Lawrence River to facilitate the park, beautifully maintained by Parks canal system which is movement of troops and matériel to Canada. One of the beauty spots is at second to none in the Upper Canada. The British military Jones Falls, where a remarkably world.C The present St. Lawrence staff was concerned that the innovative masonry dam was system by itself dwarfs all other inland Americans might entertain ideas of a constructed to impound one of the waterway systems, however assessed. further attempt to extend their lock head ponds. The horizontal arch The system accommodates vessels up hegemony northward. If they did, of the dam gently curves 107 m along to 30,000 tons over a distance of about there was a vulnerable stretch of its crest and has a maximum height of 3800 km from the Atlantic. international border along the 19 m. It has been visited and admired Most of the large works were built St. Lawrence River approximately by generations of engineers. in the 20th century and this note pays between Kingston and Cornwall. The Rideau Canal was constructed particular attention to those, but it is A British army engineering unit by both direct labour and by tendered instructive to put these very large unrelated to the Royal Engineers had, contract. Most of the other 19th works in their historical perspective. in the period 1819 to 1834, century canals were built by constructed a series of small canals to contractors, and were constructed for bypass rapids in the lower Ottawa government agencies, sometimes after private company promoters had foundered. A good example of government being obliged to assume ownership occurred later with the first Canal. Even before the military navigations there were much smaller commercial works in By Ken Mackenzie, FCSCE various parts of the country. In 1797 a canoe Canals lock was built at Sault Ste. PIONEERING 19th CENTURY River. The British government Marie by the North West Company. CANAL WORKS decided to provide a more easily Probably the first “real” canal in The earliest notable canal works in defended east-west route by using Canada was the early Lachine canal, Canada were built by the British Royal this partly tamed length of the Ottawa built between the years 1821 and 1825. Engineers on the Rideau and River together with a new canal to be The first short canal in Upper Cataraqui Rivers and the intervening constructed from Ottawa south-west Canada, known as the Desjardins lakes system. This is now known as to Kingston. The Rideau Canal was Canal, had been completed in the Rideau Canal. The Royal constructed under the command of Burlington Bay in 1826. Its remnants Engineers at that time were officered Lieutenant Colonel John By between can still be seen. This was the by men who had received a thorough the years 1827 and 1832. The waterway beginning of Canada’s period of education in what is now termed civil is an ingenious combination of “canal fever”, a phenomenon also engineering. Their engineering works excavated canal bed and the natural seen in many European countries and can be seen around the world, in lake system. It was one of the largest the United States. Promoters roads, irrigation, canals, harbours construction projects in North launched schemes which in many and of course in fortifications. Many America at the time. Thankfully, it cases lacked both technical and of them were accomplished was never used for its military economic viability. watercolour artists whose paintings purposes, but helped to peacefully Residents of the Niagara peninsula are now collected for their historic open up Eastern Ontario to had keenly observed the progress and and technical interest. In the late agriculture and industry. It passes tribulations of the Erie Canal in 4 1700s they had been involved in through beautiful wooded country and neighbouring New York State. It was feared that if nothing was done in Legislature decided it had to take over Canada had developed navigation Canada the enterprising Americans the company. capability into the heart of the would next build a canal in New York During the 1840s there was a great continent. Complex heavy State to provide navigation around deal of canal activity in various parts construction equipment and Niagara Falls from Lake Ontario. of the country. On the Welland the techniques were available. The civil A group was formed in St. Catharines, prohibitive cost of maintaining the engineering profession was soundly Ontario, to promote the construction wooden locks drove the government established and experienced for the of a Canadian canal between Lake to build the second of demands of the 1900s. Ontario and Lake Erie. The first of the cut-stone masonry locks. The four Welland Canals was largely the improved construction methods MATURITY — result of the foresight and persistence of the new canal, which opened in THE 20th CENTURY of William Hamilton Merritt. He had 1845, reduced the number of locks By the year 1900 Canada possessed a returned to St. Catharines from from 40 to 27. In Québec the nine- commercial waterway system between captivity as an American prisoner-of- lock Chambly Canal and the single the Atlantic Ocean and the Great war in 1815 to set up in business and lock Ste. Anne’s canals were built, the Lakes which substantially fulfilled the to operate mills on Twelve Mile Creek. former to connect with U.S. canals dreams of the early European settlers. Merritt, like his fellow millers, was and the latter, between Île Perrot and The extensive channel improvements frustrated by the erratic creek flow, Montréal, as part of the Ottawa River and canal works on the St. Lawrence, and he concluded that it would be improvements. The Chambly gave together with the construction of the economically feasible to construct a the Americans their first direct third Welland Canal, now meant that canal which would include controlled water navigation connection to ships up to 85 m long of 13 m beam stream flow. The initial canal route the St. Lawrence River. The and 4.2 m draft had access throughout would be from Port Dalhousie on Lake Ste. Anne’s, with improvements in the Great Lakes. In the years before Ontario, up the face of the Niagara 1878 and 1886, is still functional. the First World War, huge dredging escarpment and then to meet with the There was more activity in the contracts were carried out in the Chippawa Creek which flowed into the 1870s, on the Trent River system in St. Lawrence so that, by 1914, depths Niagara River some distance above the Muskokas in Ontario, and on the of 10 m had been cleared. There was Niagara Falls. third Welland Canal starting in 1875. constant need to accommodate The Welland Canal Company, with In the Maritimes there were the increased shipping. Other canals George Keefer as president, was Chignecto canal/railway project provided additional commercial incorporated and started on its which was stopped when partially access. Many were increasingly used turbulent three-decade course. The completed, the St. Peter’s at the for recreation, as the railways, and first Welland canal opened in 1829 Great Bras d’Or channel, and the later the highways, took over more after five years of financial travail, Shubenacadie. and more freight haulage. internecine strife in the work force, At the end of the century, work By the year 1900 it was also clear and epidemics of cholera, “swamp continued on the St. Lawrence River that ship sizes, both on the upper fever”, plague and dysentery. There system at the Lachine Canal and its lakes and internationally, now were 40 wooden locks which could take enlargements, the Beauharnois and exceeded the capacity of the upper St. vessels of up to about 180 tons. Adding its successor the Soulange Canal, and Lawrence River and the third Welland to Merritt’s problems, particularly as the Cornwall system around the Long Canal. The country had now he attempted to attract more investors, Sault. The Canadian Sault Ste. Marie developed the ability and economic was the threatened arrival of the canal opened in 1895 with the strength to tackle the challenge of yet railroad, the nemesis of many canal impressive lock dimensions 273 m by another series of massive canal projects. The Canal Company 18 m, and a sill depth of 5.5 m. projects. Once again Government was attempted to improve its operation by When the century began, the heavily involved in planning, and it extending the canal alignment south science and art of canal building was was now felt that the required skills directly to Lake Erie. It became even new to the Continent. Construction and methods were available. A more financially extended and was glad methods were primitive and based number of parliamentary reports to have the government buy shares. almost entirely on human and animal were tabled, leading to the concept of Finally, in 1839, the Upper Canada effort. By the end of the century a coordinated St. Lawrence Seaway. 5 Most importantly there now and with serious loss of time. There daunting. Popular imagination was existed a cadre of experienced were still at this time many who intrigued by the idea of lifting 30,000- professional engineers capable of favoured the Georgian Bay Ship Canal ton ships nearly 50 m up such a steep proficiently handling the work. The proposal which would use the Ottawa incline. Worldwide attention was Canadian Society of Civil Engineers River route to Lake Huron. Even directed at the mammoth project, to had been organized in 1887. The first though this Ottawa River route had the continue during the ups and downs of president of the Society was Thomas distinct advantage of bypassing the the next 20 years. Coltrin Keefer, who had been 14-foot (4.3 m) depth restriction of the The new alignment of the fourth involved in the planning of the second St. Lawrence locks, the end result of a Welland canal meant that the city of Welland Canal and had worked on the number of parliamentary reports was St. Catharines was essentially Ottawa and the St. Lawrence Canals. the decision in 1909 to construct a new bypassed, but the line went through He was the author of an essay “The Welland canal. It appears that this had , Welland, Port Colbourne and Canals of Canada” published in 1850. been foreseen by the local engineers of several smaller communities. It went T.C. Keefer died aged 94 in 1915, the Federal Department of Railways through a region of richly productive having had a lifelong interest in the and Canals, who had been quietly farmland. It cut across a complex road development of the country’s running route surveys across the system and five major railroads, waterways systems. The scale of Niagara Peninsula since about 1906. which serviced a mature industrial inland navigation projects had The Welland Ship Canal, as it was and commercial area. The new route increased greatly in the last decades then named, would run south from a conflicted with much of the busy third of the old century. One of the decisive new Lake Ontario entrance to be canal. Keeping navigation on the third factors in planning such grand scale called Port Weller, about five unimpeded while constructing the enterprises was the more widespread kilometres east of the earlier fourth, building 20 new , use of Portland cement concrete, entrances at Port Dalhousie. It would handling road and rail traffic, and which had been first used in large run south for about 10 km with three moving several existing bridges called civil works in Canada as recently as single-chamber locks to the foot of for exceptional planning and 1835. Engineers had been unneces- the Niagara escarpment, where it execution. At times the demand for sarily concerned about its cost, and would climb 45 m in three twinned labour, steel, cement and skilled more understandably concerned pairs of locks. There would be a single contractors put a strain on the about its freeze-thaw resistance. lock between the top of the provincial economy. Land assembly Mechanical excavating, dredging and escarpment and the Lake Erie guard costs alone finally amounted to about hoisting equipment had more than lock at Port Colbourne. The canal $ 2 million or 1.5% of the final project kept pace with ever-increasing would be 43 km in length with a total cost of $130 million; the cost of project size. Much had been learned lift of 100 m. The lock widths were engineering was almost $9 million. from the sizeable works on the third 24.3 m, the lengths 222.5 m, except The contracts called in 1913 were Welland Canal which continued well for the Guard Lock no. 8 at Port mostly based on unit price. The canal into the 20th century. Colbourne, which was 350 m in line was divided into eight sections, length. The general canal prism and some of the excavation contracts THE FOURTH dimensions were 94 m on top, 60 m were for an entire section. Labourer WELLAND CANAL bottom and 8.2 m depth. The canal wage rates were about 20 cents per Before the 1914–1918 war, and indeed was sized for vessels of about hour. With the loss of men to the from the time of the opening of the 30,000 tonnes deadweight. It was armed forces after 1914, and the third Welland canal in 1887, there were thought that, all being well, the canal lessened priority given to the canal, groups pressing for a larger canal into could be constructed in about five the pace of the work slackened and a the upper Great Lakes. There were years, starting in 1913. The canal in halt was called in 1917. excellent reasons for the lobbying. The fact opened 19 years later, on August When the work began again in third Welland canal was a bottleneck 6th, 1932, after being halted in 1917 1919, labour was at first plentiful, and which required the large upper lakers during the Great War, and only the labourer’s wage rates had to trans-ship their downbound cargoes restarting in 1919. increased to 40 cents an hour. onto smaller ships at the southern end The sheer size of the enterprise was The contractors were reluctant to take 6 of the third Welland at great expense unprecedented, and the logistics were fixed price work or even unit price work, so the contracts were now called the same massive scale. An early various head ponds, a power station cost plus. The pace of work picked up, decision had to be made during the utilizing the fall of water down the and a vast array of men, equipment course of the work to change from the escarpment to generate enough and materials was mobilized. In 1919 proposed single leaf lock gates to electric power to supply the entire the work was put in the hands of double mitre gates. So that these 30 m canal system, as well as the Alexander J. Grant as Engineer-in- by 15 m steel gates could be readily 20 bridges. These are impressively- Chief. Grant was a native of transported and placed in position, a sized structures, providing either Banffshire, Scotland, who had joined pontoon was devised to incorporate a open overhead clearance, in the case the federal Department of Railways 25-ton crane. This remarkable craft of the rolling lift bridges, or a and Canals in 1886, just before the stood about 40 m high and its stability minimum 36 m clearance in the case third Welland canal was opened and and verticality were controlled by of the lift bridges. The bridges are not long after the Department was raising or lowering the level of ballast only minor auxiliary elements in the established. He worked on the water in tanks on its periphery. A system, but when their number and Soulanges Canal, and on the harbour submarine saw, mounted on a tapered size are considered, the magnitude improvements at Port Colbourne structural frame, was built to cut pile of the fourth Canal is again put into from 1903 to 1906. He was in charge caps at a depth of over 20 m. perspective. of the Trent Canal works from 1906 Grant and his people knew that The economic cost for the fourth until he arrived on the Welland in they could expect some mishaps. At Welland Canal was stated to be 1919, and did not retire until after the the north end of the canal there was $130 million. The cost in human life new canal opened. Grant at one time one of the great harbour works for the is shocking to engineers of the late was president of the Engineering canal, at Fort Weller. Among the early 20th century. One hundred Institute of Canada. work here were two groynes or and eighteen men died in building The large staff assembled under training walls of rock fill which were the canal. their new Engineer-in-Chief faced a being constructed about one There have been a number of formidable series of challenges in the kilometre into Lake Ontario using a related construction projects since next 14 years. They could count on temporary rail . A fierce winter World War II which add to the many capable and experienced storm late in 1915 took out much of efficiency and serviceability of the construction people in their own the work, fortunately with no loss of Welland Canal. In 1963 the high-level ranks and those of the contractors as life, but adding huge cost. The early Garden City Skyway at St. Catharines they built up their companies after 20th century engineers suffered like provided uninterrupted vehicle the war. They now had at their their predecessors on the first passage over the canal. In 1968 the disposal equipment developed and Welland Canal from their imperfect under the canal improved by the demands of pre-war knowledge of soil behaviour. There retired two of the 20 original bridges. heavy construction. The canal works were many embarrassing slides into The 13 km Welland Canal Bypass would require 40,000,000 m3 of earth the work, sometimes only from a side opened in 1973, replacing some of excavation, 7,000,000 m3 of rock cut excavation, but also at times the winding original channel, and excavation and they would consume involving constructed facilities such providing the community with a lovely 2,300,000 m3 of concrete. Excavation as piers and piled foundations. It is linear park. equipment ranged from 5 m3 steam interesting to note that in those less and electric power shovels to grader litigious times accidents and failures THE ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY mule teams, which were still used as were not only thoroughly investi- The second of the two canal late as the early 1930s. Single-lift gated, but their lessons were widely megaprojects upgraded the combined moveable concrete forms 30 m in disseminated. navigation and power works between height were in general use on the lock Over and above the straightforward Lake Ontario and the port of walls. Reliable underwater blasting work of the canal proper there were Montréal. This brought the full extent techniques were developed. the two large port facilities, an of the waterway to its present uniform The temporary works such as aqueduct at Welland which was a large standard. The entire length of man- concreting towers, very large cranes project in itself to take the Chippawa made waterway now constitutes the and hoists mounted on rail , Creek under the new canal, several St. Lawrence Seaway. piling rigs and coffer dams were on dams as high as 30 m to impound the 7 Keefer’s 1850 canal essay meet the lock dimensions of the themselves impressive. The Trent contained the following prescient Welland Canal, and to construct two of Canal, originally intended to passage (the italics are his): the navigation locks, the Snell and the encourage commerce, was built over a Eisenhower, on the U.S. side of lengthy period, right into the 20th “Our canals were not built for the river. Several large hydroelectric century. It included two lift locks and Canada, but for the valley of the St. power plants had been built at the two inclined marine railways. Lawrence; we ought therefore to rapids on the St. Lawrence, and Nowadays one can enjoy almost ‘club together’ with our these had to be accommodated. An 400 km of relaxed travel from neighbours, on the opposite side immense international power house a Trenton on Lake Ontario to the in order to place this noble outlet kilometre long would be constructed to summit, 180 m higher, at Balsam Lake in the most efficient state, by take advantage of most of the 30 m head and from there to Georgian Bay at giving it as large a support as between Lakes Ontario and Francis. Its Big Chute. possible.” full rating was 2,400,000 horsepower. Some of the 20th century The final cost of the new power projects construction was for the benefit of In 1895 the Deep Waterway was $600 million, considerably more commerce. In 1910 the St. Andrew’s Commission was established jointly than the $470 million cost of the lock was built to permit navigation on by Canada and the United States to navigation work. At peak employment, the Red River in Manitoba. The well- study all feasible routes from the twenty thousand people worked on the used Canso Lock, finished in 1956, Atlantic to the Great Lakes. Their projects. allows salt-water ships passage 1897 recommendation was for the As in other parts of the Seaway through the Cape Breton Causeway. St. Lawrence route. The International there was much work off the actual In 1963 the most recent work on the Joint Commission was established in canal line. About 20,000 hectares of Ottawa River was completed for the 1909, specifically to manage the land were inundated. Several Carillon Canal to ascend Hydro proposed waterway in the interests of communities, mostly on the Canadian Québec’s power dam. both countries. An enabling treaty side, were at least partially flooded. was signed by the Prime Minister and Three new towns were built, with THE FUTURE the President in 1932, the year the many new homes and about 500 All of our canal works were built to fourth Welland Canal opened. The U.S. houses relocated from the flooded last. Some provide us with small-boat Congress, under intense lobbying areas. House moving trailers rated up access to some of the loveliest and pressure from many vested interests, to 200 tonnes were used to move most tranquil parts of the country, refused to ratify the treaty, and it was these houses and many buildings of and they will continue to be enjoyed only in 1954 that they did ratify. historic and cultural interest. Thirty by more and more people. In the past Canada had stated that it was prepared kilometres of the very busy CN two years large cruise ships have to proceed alone if necessary. Support railroad had to be relocated. Four of begun to appear on the Great Lakes for the venture had grown in the U.S., the bridges across the St. Lawrence in after an absence of several decades, influenced at least in part by the huge Montréal had to be reconstructed for some of them from Europe. iron ore discoveries in Québec. Seaway clearance. Most of our canals handle a When the way was cleared for This enormous project is notable substantial amount of Canada’s long- action, the speed of construction was not only for its sheer size and its distance freight and are an essential extraordinary. Work started in 1954 demonstration of engineering part of the national economy. It is and this huge development was expertise, but also for the unique possible that as environmental opened in 1959 by the Queen and the cooperation of the two countries concerns become even stronger, U.S. Vice-President, President involved. more of this kind of traffic will be Eisenhower being too ill to attend. diverted to water transport. This stretch of the St. Lawrence OTHER 20th CENTURY WORKS River still presented a 14-foot The two huge Seaway projects dwarf bottleneck to navigation. Part of the other canal works built in the same international agreement was to now period, but those others are in 8 Major Canadian Bridge Projects of the 20th Century By Roger Dorton, FCSCE

1. Background use of concrete was increasing and with the common eyebar pinned The end of the 19th century saw would first be used for bridge connected members by using all railroad bridge construction still superstructure construction in riveted fabrication of members and booming in Canada, with steel Canada in about 1906. their connections. The Canadian having replaced wrought iron as the This retrospective of significant Bridge Company used an innovative main superstructure material. The major bridges in Canada in the end launching erection method. was 20th century will be divided into two One end of the preassembled formed in Lachine, Québec in 1882 parts, grouping bridges by material structure was pulled across the river and was to play a major role in steel or type in the first half of the century on a scow, with the other end sliding bridge construction for over and the last half. on greased rails. The same company 100 years. Their first major bridge built the spectacular Lethbridge was the 145 m cantilever span over 2. The First Five Decades, Viaduct in Alberta which opened in the Reversing Falls at St. John, New 1900 to 1949 1909. It remains the longest (1624 m) Brunswick in 1884, followed by the 2.1 STEEL RAILWAY BRIDGES and highest (96 m) steel viaduct in continuous The first major bridge to be Canada. Both of these bridges were truss bridge over the St. Lawrence completed at the turn of the century, built under the direction of the River at Lachine in 1886. The days in 1900, was the Interprovincial CPR Bridge Engineer C.N. Monsarrat, when major bridges were designed Bridge linking Ottawa and Hull, later later to be the Chairman of the Board and fabricated outside the country, named the . It was a of Engineers for the Québec Bridge. such as Montréal’s famous Victoria 170 m span cantilever bridge built by Worldwide, the Québec Bridge is Bridge taking the Grand Trunk Dominion Bridge and was designed probably Canada’s best known bridge Railway over the St. Lawrence in for both rail and road traffic. It is of the 20th century. The bridge, with 1859, were passing. still in use today, following a main span length of 549 m, was the The use of timber for railway renovations, and was designated as a longest span ever built when bridges was in decline, but would National Historic Civil Engineering completed in 1917, surpassing the continue to be popular for the Site by CSCE in 1995. famous in Scotland. It growing need of road bridges. The The record 126 m simple span CPR still holds the record as the world’s piers and abutments of large bridges bridge over the French River in Ontario longest cantilever span. The first were generally of masonry, but the was completed in 1907. It dispensed attempt to span the St. Lawrence at

Figure 1. Québec Bridge Figure 1a. Québec Bridge

9 this location ended in disaster, with Dominion Bridge was P.L. Pratley, commonly known as the Bloor Street 75 workers killed when the Phoenix who played an important design role Viaduct. Having been designed for Bridge Company’s structure under the direction of the Board both highway and transit loading, the collapsed during construction in Chairman, C.N. Monsarrat. In 1921, cost of a separate bridge was saved 1907. The tragedy was attributed to they formed a partnership and were when the subway was built after the design errors, inadequate commu- to become Canada’s pre-eminent Second World War and operates with nication during construction, and bridge consulting firm until the the tracks on a second level beneath lack of knowledge of the behaviour death of Monsarrat in 1940. the roadway deck. of the large compression chord The first major bridge designed members. Following a lengthy 2.2 STEEL HIGHWAY BRIDGES by Monsarrat and Pratley was the investigation a new contract was With the completion of most of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge linking awarded to the St. Lawrence Bridge country’s railroads by the outbreak Montréal to the South Shore of the Company in 1911, this company of the First World War, the focus of St. Lawrence River by way of being a joint venture of the two major bridge construction shifted to St. Helen’s Island, which opened in largest Canadian steel construction highway structures to address the 1929. This much needed crossing firms, Dominion Bridge and rapid growth in cars and trucks. The was first proposed as a two level Canadian Bridge. Extensive studies historic Edward Serrell suspension combined railway and road bridge in were carried out on compression bridge in Saint John, New Brunswick 1876. The bridge as built was for members, including large scale was replaced in 1915 with a steel arch highway and transit use, but the model testing, and a distinctive for highway traffic spanning 172 m. streetcar tracks were never added, K-shaped system of diagonal members The bridge was built by Dominion enabling the roadway to be widened was employed, Figure 1 and 1a. Bridge, and the relatively flat arch to five lanes in the 1950s with ample Tragedy was to strike again, was erected by cantilevering over the capacity for current loadings. The however. During the lifting of the river and changed from a three main high-level span over the central 195 m suspended span in pinned arch to a two pinned type harbour consists of a steel cantilever 1916, a failure in the lifting after arch closure. The various with a central span of 334 m. The mechanism caused the span to crash bridges over the Reversing Falls in span is quite different in appearance into the river with the loss of 13 more Saint John have been commemorated compared to the Québec Bridge lives. A new suspended span was by the CSCE in designating the cantilever, appearing more like a successfully lifted the following year location a National Historic Site. suspension bridge in outline but and the completed bridge was The keeping the K-braced diagonal recognized internationally as a great crossing the Don River in Toronto system, Figure 2. The bridge was achievement in the face of adversity, has been similarly designated by the fabricated and erected by Dominion significantly advancing the CSCE. The multiple span three Bridge, who also carried out the knowledge of large compression pinned arch structure was opened in jacking under traffic of the south chords and truss deformations. One 1918, and has become the city’s shore approach truss spans to of the engineers on loan from landmark bridge, although now more provide an extra 24 m clearance over

Figure 2. Jacques-Cartier Bridge Figure 3. Lions’ Gate Bridge

10 the newly opened St. Lawrence was to be exceeded two years later by Construction’s award as the most Seaway in 1958. the Lions’ Gate Bridge in , beautiful bridge in America. The 1930s saw the rebirth of British Columbia, designed and built suspension bridge construction in by the same two firms. The bridge 2.3 CONCRETE BRIDGES Canada, with Monsarrat and Pratley was built privately to link Vancouver The first decade of the century saw the main consultants. Their first to the north shore to enable the the introduction of reinforced involvement was with the Grand development of West Vancouver. concrete for the construction of Mère Bridge over the St. Maurice With the attractive setting adjacent to highway bridge superstructures, one River in Québec, a suspension bridge Stanley Park it has become a feature of the first being the 1906 arch with a main span of 289 m, in of the Vancouver landscape, Figure 3, bridge at Massey, Ontario. It was an association with the prime and was designated by the CSCE in earth-filled spandrel type spanning consultants Robinson and Steinman 1991. The span of 472 m enabled the 28 m. Frank Barber designed many of New York. An unusual feature of claim to be made for it in 1938 as the concrete bowstring and simple arch the construction was the lifting of the longest suspension bridge in the bridges, the most outstanding being rope strand cables and the erection then British Empire. the Hunter Street Bridge at of the stiffening trusses from the ice A number of major bridges Peterborough, Ontario. This hand- in the frozen river. This bridge linking Canada and the United States some structure has a clear span of opened in 1929, the same year as the were built during this period, 71 m and was the longest reinforced from Detroit to including a 1938 suspension bridge concrete span in Canada when Windsor, Ontario. Monssarat and at Ivy Lea, Ontario, in the Thousand completed in 1921. The slab arch was Pratley were one of the consultants to Islands region. The same year saw designed to be in compression at all the design-build contractors, the completion of a graceful 265 m times and, surprisingly, is of plain McClintic Marshall of the United arched cantilever truss over the unreinforced concrete. The structure States. The bridge featured a record St. Clair River at Sarnia, Ontario. was load tested and rehabilitated in span length of 564 m, slightly longer The last international crossing built recent years and still carries full than the Québec Bridge, making it until after the conclusion of the highway loading. Its attractive the longest bridge in the world for a Second World War was the Rainbow appearance, with arch spandrels, is short time until the opening of the Bridge at Niagara Falls, opened in enhanced by inlaid decorative tiles George Washington Bridge in 1931. 1941. Constructed near the site of the in the parapet walls, Figure 4. The first suspension bridge for old Falls View trussed arch bridge Multi-span arches of the open which Monsarrat and Pratley were which was demolished by the spandrel type soon became popular the principal designers was the Isle unexpectedly high river ice in 1938, and two significant examples can be of Orléans Bridge near Québec City, the new bridge has box girder arch seen in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. which was also the first suspension ribs spanning 290 m. At the time of The longest is the University Bridge bridge built by Dominion Bridge. construction, it was the world’s over the South Saskatchewan River, The bridge opened in 1936, with a longest steel arch bridge, and in 1941 consisting of 10 spans, and probably main span of 323 m — a length that won the American Institute of Steel the largest reinforced concrete

Figure 4. Hunter Street Bridge Figure 5. Trois-Rivières Bridge

11 undertaking in the country at the Completed in 1930 by Dufresne mid-1950s that major steel bridge time of its completion in 1916. The Construction, the bridge has five construction resumed. The steel Broadway Bridge is shorter in total arches with a maximum span of 67 fabrication techniques were length, with five arches of varying m, with each arch being of the three unchanged at that time, but 10 years length up to 61 m maximum. It was pinned type which is unusual for later would see the replacement of designated as a heritage structure by reinforced concrete construction. riveted steel work by shop welded CSCE in 1985 rather than the older The heyday for reinforced fabrication and high strength bolted University Bridge, largely because of concrete arches was certainly prior field connections, and the its social significance at the time of to 1950. The emergence of introduction of orthotropic steel its construction in 1932 during times prestressed concrete after that date deck construction. of depression and high unemploy- and its economical application to The last of the long span riveted ment. Federal relief funds were longer spans, signalled the end of cantilevers were completed in this obtained for its construction, and major reinforced concrete arch period. The Second Narrows deck concrete was preferred to steel as it spans. The last one, completed in type structure spanning 335 m was was more labour intensive, as many 1960, was the elegant Hugh John completed in 1959 in Vancouver, but as 450 men worked on the project, Fleming Bridge on the Trans-Canada not without yet another Canadian mostly unskilled and previously Highway over the St. John River. steel cantilever construction tragedy. unemployed. The bridge was This multi-span structure is just On June 17, 1958 two spans collapsed completed in the remarkably short downstream from the historic when the grillage beams at the base of time of 11 months. covered wooden bridge at Hartland, the falsework bent supporting the Other important arches of a New Brunswick. Although wood has anchor arm failed, resulting in the similar type were the Centre Street not been used for many long span death of 18 workers. The failure was Bridge in , Alberta, opened in bridges in recent decades, a fine due to an error in the design of the 1918, and three higher level creek example of wood truss construction stiffeners and diaphragms of the crossings on Ontario’s Queen still exists in Northern Ontario at grillage. It was the worst bridge Elizabeth Way between Toronto and Sioux Narrows. This 64 m span accident in Canada since the Hamilton. The QEW was Canada’s through truss was completed in 1935, dropping of the suspended span of first controlled-access expressway, renovated with a stressed laminated the Québec Bridge over 40 years and was commemorated in 1939 by wood deck in 1982 and still carries before. P.L. Pratley was at the time the visiting royal family. Perhaps the full highway truck loads. It is claimed working on the design of another most striking looking of the arch to be the longest span wooden cantilever bridge, the Champlain bridges built in the first half of the highway bridge in North America. Bridge over the St. Lawrence River in century is the Ahuntsic Bridge, also Montréal with a main span length of known as Pont Viau, linking 3. The Last 50 Years 215 m. He was called on to investigate Montréal and Laval across the 3.1 STEEL BRIDGES the collapse of the Second Narrows Rivière-des-Prairies, due in part The war years saw little bridge Bridge but was to die that year, before to the low rise-to-span ratio. construction and it was not until the the completion of either bridge. His

Figure 6. Figure 7. Pierre-Laporte Bridge

12 last completed project was the lifting Figure 5, designed under the girders of welded box construction. of the south approach deck truss direction of Georges Deiners. The only other Canadian major span spans of the to Completed in 1967, with a main span using the continuous tied arch form provide an extra 24 m clearance over of 335 m, it has three approach span is the second Blue Water Bridge, the St. Lawrence Seaway. The jacking through trusses on each side, opened in 1997 and designed by an was carried out under traffic by continuous with the arch anchor international joint venture of Dominion Bridge, the bridge being spans. The superstructure of these Modjeski and Masters of Harrisburg, closed for just a few hours when the last three bridges were all fabricated Pa. and Buckland & Taylor Ltd. of deck truss over the Seaway channel and erected by Dominion Bridge. Vancouver, British Columbia. In this was slid out laterally onto falsework There was another serious accident case, internal redundancy in the ties and replaced by a through truss for on this bridge during the was introduced by fabricating the additional clearance. construction of the substructure, boxes from four corner angles and The 1960s brought on a rapid when 12 workers died from an four plates, connected by high expansion of the highway system, explosion in one of the caissons. strength bolts. The 281 m main span including the construction of the The last major crossing on the was erected by the use of temporary Trans-Canada Highway. A major arch Trans-Canada Highway in British towers and cable stays, the bridge on that highway was the Columbia was the Port Mann Bridge fabrication and erection of the Alexandria Bridge, crossing the over the Fraser River 24 km east of Canadian half being carried out by Fraser River in British Columbia, Vancouver, opened in 1964, and Canron. The Port Mann main span designed by A.B. Sanderson and designed by CBA. This bridge was was erected in the same fashion by completed in 1961. Another deck particularly significant in Dominion Bridge. arch structure was completed across introducing the European-developed Welded orthotropic deck box the Niagara River in 1962. The technology of orthotropic decks to girder construction was used on Queenston to Lewiston international North America. Due to its light several bridges following the bridge was similar to the earlier weight, this type of steel deck proved completion of the Port Mann Bridge. Rainbow Bridge a few kilometres economical for long spans. The Port These included the Concordia Bridge upstream, but the span was a little Mann Bridge has a main span length for rail transit at in longer at 305 m. A number of through of 366 m and upon completion was Montréal, the Saint John Harbour truss arched structures were the longest bridge of its type in the Bridge in New Brunswick in 1968, completed at this time, such as the world, a continuous stiffened tied and the Mission Bridge in British Burlington Skyway in Ontario in 1958 arch. This little-used bridge form, Columbia in 1973. and the Great Bras d’Or Bridge in with slender arch ribs, produced a Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in 1961. By graceful and much admired structure, 3.2 CABLE SUPPORTED far the longest of this type, however, Figure 6. The tie girders were box BRIDGES was the Trois-Rivières Bridge across sections of riveted construction, thus The longest span highway bridges the St. Lawrence River midway avoiding the lack of redundancy that have traditionally been suspension between Montréal and Québec City, was to later be of such concern on tie bridges. The last 40 years of the

Figure 8. A. Murray MacKay Bridge Figure 9. Papineau-Leblanc Bridge

13 century has seen the development span length of 274 m and was in pendulum fashion, using the and application of cable stayed designed by T. Lamb, McManus & permanent suspenders. The design bridges to increasingly long spans, Associates of who carried and construction were unique when previously the domain of suspension out static model tests to confirm its completed in 1965. bridges. The use of both types of behaviour under load. The stiffening Canada’s longest suspension cable supported bridge in Canada trusses are Warren type with double bridge and longest span of any type, will be reviewed in this section, intersecting diagonals with the wind is the Pierre-Laporte Bridge beside along with the development of wind system and deck at mid-depth. The the famous Québec Bridge which had engineering expertise in this country towers are of the portal frame type the record span until the suspension largely as a response to the with three struts above the deck, bridge was completed in 1970 aerodynamic susceptibility of these rather than the more common spanning 668 m. The consulting types of bridges. crossbraced style. In 1961, an engineers, Demers, Vandry, international crossing of the St. Gronquist, were an association of 3.2.1 Suspension Bridges Lawrence River was opened over the two Québec firms with the well- Monsarrat and Pratley were engaged Seaway, linking Ogdensburg, N.Y. known American firm of to carry out studies of a possible and Prescott, Ontario. It has a main D.B. Steinman. This six-lane high-level highway bridge linking span length of 350 m with through bridge represents the U.S. state-of- Halifax and Dartmouth N.S. as far type stiffening trusses, but an open the-art of the time, with steel portal back as 1928, but it was not until steel grid deck was utilized to reduce towers and deck type stiffening 1950 that design work was begun by the dead weight. trusses, Figure 7. P.L. Pratley, then heading his own A most unusual suspension bridge Also, in 1970, a second firm. The Angus L. Macdonald was designed by Phillips, Barratt and suspension bridge across Halifax Bridge crosses the harbour with a Partners to cross the Peace River in a Harbour was opened, the A. Murray main span of 441 m and was opened remote area near Hudson Hope, MacKay Bridge at the entrance to in 1955. Slightly shorter than the British Columbia. The bridge spans Bedford Basin, designed by Pratley Lions’ Gate Bridge, it is otherwise 207 m with concrete portal towers on and Dorton and erected by Canadian very similar to its 1938 predecessor. the riverbanks and unloaded Bridge. This four-lane bridge, with a P.L. Pratley’s son was involved in the backstays. The deck stiffening main span length of 427 m is site supervision and took over the system consists of 34 segmental probably the highest in its span operation of the consulting firm on concrete box girder sections, each range in North America, Figure 8. the death of his father in 1958. 6 m long, which were longitudinally This is mainly due to the use of a The Dunvegan Bridge, crossing post-tensioned together after lightweight steel orthotropic deck the Peace River in Alberta was erection. Each precast unit was acting as the top chord of the deck opened in 1960, and has some erected using a traveller on rubber- type stiffening trusses. It remains features that differ from the typical covered wheels running on the the only suspension bridge on this Canadian suspension bridge designs permanent bridge cable system, and continent originally built with an at that time. The bridge has a main the segments were swung into place, orthotropic deck, although this type

Figure 10. Alex Fraser Bridge Figure 11. ALRT Skytrain Bridge

14 of deck has since been used in the stiffening girders, following wind by Bush, Bohlman-Reid Crowther, rehabilitation of older bridges. As tunnel tests at the National Research Figure 11. The ALRT Skytrain Bridge the suspended truss sections were to Council laboratories in Ottawa. A is a narrow structure with a deck be erected with the orthotropic deck Canadian bridge that made a large system consisting of prestressed panels in place, there was the impact at that time was the precast concrete elements, and potential for aerodynamic instability Papineau-Leblanc Bridge in provides the world’s longest transit- during erection. Various erection Montréal, built by Dominion Bridge. only span of 340 m. conditions and the finished structure It utilized the latest European were checked for model testing at the technology, with an orthotropic box 3.3 Prestressed Concrete Bridges Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel at the girder deck and a single plane of Prestressed concrete bridges had University of Western Ontario. In stays supported by single column their start in Europe in the 1930s, addition to the usual section models, type pylons located in the median of but their widespread use followed the a full aeroelastic model was tested in the four lane stays supported by end of the Second World War when smooth flow and the more realistic single column type pylons located in Europe was rebuilding. The first condition of turbulent flow. The the median of the four-lane bridge, example in Canada was the single bridge test in turbulent flow was a Figure 9. The bridge, which has a span beam bridge over Mosquito first anywhere and resulted in a main span of 241 m, was opened in Creek in North Vancouver, British significant increase in the critical 1969. Columbia, in 1952. This was followed velocity. This and subsequent work The project that put Canada on the in 1954 by the multi-span Chin under the direction of Dr. A.G. world scene for cable stayed bridge Coulee Bridge in Alberta. One Davenport helped establish the engineering was the Alex Fraser hundred 18.3 m beams were precast reputation that Canada enjoys today Bridge near Vancouver, British by Con-Force in their Calgary plant. as a world leader in wind engineering Columbia, designed by CBA- The latest application of prestressed and wind tunnel testing. Buckland & Taylor, Figure 10. When concrete in North America at the it opened in 1986 it was the longest time resulted from the alternate 3.2.2 Cable Stayed Bridges cable stayed bridge in the world with design tender call for the 45 approach The modern use of cable stayed a main span of 465 m, a record it spans of the Champlain Bridge bridges started in post-war Europe held for five years, and it remains the crossing the St. Lawrence River in in the 1950s but was not introduced longest on the continent. In addition, Montréal in 1959. The winning bid to this continent until the mid- it incorporated a number of featured precast beam spans of 54 m 1960s. One of the earliest innovations including the use of a erected by a launching truss covering applications was for the Long’s Creek composite steel beam and precast two spans, with beams delivered Bridge in New Brunswick, with a concrete slab deck system now being directly from an on-site precasting span of 217 m. Before opening it adopted on projects abroad. It was plant. This represented the exhibited undesirable motion in followed in 1989 by another cable introduction of the latest European wind. This was corrected by adding stayed bridge over the Fraser River in prestressed concrete bridge fairings to modify the shape of the nearby New Westminster, designed technology to this continent.

Figure 12. Burlington Skyway Figure 13. Confederation Bridge

15 The need for spans longer than was carried out by JMI/Stanley Joint The end of the century finds could be provided by precast beams Venture Inc. with Buckland & Taylor Canadian companies providing was the development of segmental Ltd. acting as the Independent design and construction services in construction. This form of construc- Engineer, overseeing the project for the international marketplace. tion had its North American the federal government. The design Canada has acknowledged expertise introduction on two bridges in criteria were unusual, requiring in fields such as wind engineering, Québec, the Lièvre River Bridge for evaluation of conditions at the site effects of extreme environments, precast segmental and the Sainte- for items such as ice load, wind load rehability-based design and Adèle Bridge on the Laurentian and ship impact and a calibration construction management, plus Autoroute for cast-in-place process to ensure a prescribed safety research leadership in advanced segmental. The latter was designed level using probabilistic methods. composite materials, monitoring by Regis Trudeau and Associates, and The limit states design approach was methods and high performance constructed in just one construction already well established in Canada, concrete. These skills should ensure season by Janin Construction Ltd. in which had been a leader in bridge an important role for Canadian 1963. They were followed by longer code development, but the site- bridge engineering in the segmental spans across the country specific approach to the develop- 21st century at home and overseas. such as the Bear River and ment of the design criteria for a Shubenacadie River crossings in 100-year life was unique. All the Nova Scotia, the Grand-Mère Bridge beam and pier elements were precast in Québec, the Islington Avenue and on site, and the deep water erection Burnhamthorpe Road bridges in was carried out using the floating Ontario, and the Knight Street bridge crane, Svanen, which was brought in Vancouver. The new Burlington across the Atlantic from Denmark. Skyway in Ontario, Figure 12, with a Its capacity was increased to handle cast-in-place segmental main span the beam elements 192 m long and of 151 m illustrates the growing weighing 7500 tonnes each, competitiveness of prestressed Figure 13. The erection of all the concrete for longer spans in the prestressed concrete elements in 1980s. The original Skyway, built in just two years was a remarkable 1958, has a steel arched truss main achievement. span, whereas the 1985 structure went to bids on alternative designs in 4. Concluding Remarks steel and segmental concrete, with Canadian engineers have prestressed concrete emerging the participated in the design and winner. construction of a number of bridges The Canadian project that drew of world significance during the recent worldwide attention was the 20th century, from the tragedies of Confederation Bridge linking New the Québec Bridge before its final Brunswick and Price Edward Island completion to the successful across the Northumberland Strait, construction of the Confederation which opened in 1997. The overall Bridge. The number of sites length of 12.9 km includes 43 spans requiring very long spans is limited of 250 m each, making it the longest in the short term in Canada, however, crossing of open ocean yet and such projects are more likely to constructed anywhere. The project be found overseas. was awarded to Strait Crossing Inc. At the turn of the century, Canada under a complex agreement with was taking over responsibility for the Public Works Canada that covered design and construction of its own financing, design, construction and major bridges, and becoming less 16 operation for 35 years. Final design dependent on outside assistance.