Project Update – November 16, 2020
What’s Happening in Traffic This Week
Crestmont Boulevard S.W.
Single lane alternating traffic will be in effect along Crestmont Boulevard S.W. for the next several weeks for stormline installation and work on the slope stability wall.
We have made some adjustments to improve traffic in the winter conditions, including extending the length of the green light on the traffic signal to allow more time to get up and down the hill. Regular winter maintenance of plowing and sanding will continue. Old Banff Coach Road S.W. is an alternative route during this time.
Soil nail wall for slope stability along Crestmont Boulevard S.W.
All work is weather dependent. Please check 511 AlbertaandThe City of Calgary’s traffic information map for up-to-date information on traffic detours and speed reductions.
We appreciate your patience during construction.
What’s Happening
The red apparatus on top of the pier is the partially assembled form traveller
Spreading topsoil west of Stoney Trail near Scenic Acres Link N.W.
Freshly Painted Lines
Road markings were repainted throughout the North project the week before last, just in time for another autumn snow covering!
Forming Bridge Decks Over the Longest Girders on the Project
The girders on this bridge span more than 50 metres. Standing on its end, just one of these girders is about the same height as the Leaning Tower of Pisa!
Telescopic boom lifts help workers reach heights up to 100 feet and are essential equipment for hauling material and safely accessing the sides and undersides of the bridge
Intermediate diaphragms are installed between each girder for stability before the bridge deck formwork is installed
Crews organize and prepare the diaphragm components on the ground before bolting them to the girders
What is a Pier Plinth?
A pier plinth is a platform on top of a pier cap that forms a ‘seat’ to place bridge girders upon. The pier plinth helps transfer and distribute the heavy load of the bridge deck onto the piers and is a simple, yet vital part of a strong bridge structure.
The concrete pier plinth is curing under the hoarding tarps
Looking west at the centre piers for the southbound Stoney Trail bridge over the Trans-Canada
Danger Reminder
Please remember to stay out of the construction zone. Soon there will be several lanes of traffic in this area and while a north-south crossing will be provided in the vicinity of the Bow Trail S.W. interchange, residents should find alternative walking paths as the informal pathways that existed before are within the construction zone and now closed
Looking west at earthworks for the Bow Trail S.W. interchange
All informal pathways within the construction zone are closed
Springbank Ravine Earthworks
Parts of the Springbank ravine are being filled with soil able to support the immense weight of the future roadway structures.
Rebar: Concrete’s Hidden Strength
Rebar, short for reinforcing bar, is an important part of a strong concrete bridge structure. Concrete is extremely resilient on its own and can tolerate huge compression forces that result from the weight of vehicles. However, bridges must also be able to withstand tensile forces (fancy way of saying tension), which act to pull apart or add tension.
Built into the concrete and often unseen, rebar strengthens concrete to resist the tension caused by thousands of vehicles passing over the bridge daily.
The first step in forming a bridge deck is installing wooden slats between the girders and securing them with needle beams – the steel pins attaching the formwork to the girder
The first ‘layer’ of rebar gets installed between the inverted u-shaped rebar pieces called ‘stirrups’. Rebar stirrups interlock two or more layers of rebar and provide lateral (side-to-side) strength.
Both perpendicular layers of rebar have been installed
The girders are also pre-cast with rebar
The abutment diaphragms transmit loads from the bridge deck to the abutment piles and lock in the girder ends