Bridges

Beaverdams Road and Power Canal Bridges

Location

Thorold, Ontario

Expertise

Bridges

Ontario Power Generation constructed Beaverdams Road Bridge and Power Canal Bridge across Lake Gibson in 1947 to provide access to the Decew Falls Power Generating Station.

Lake Gibson is used primarily for Power Generation at the Decew Falls and NF23 Power Generation Stations. Lake Gibson was formed when the land was flooded by the Welland Canal; water elevations are controlled to suit power generation requirements.

As the bridges are located in the City of Thorold, west of Niagara Falls in southern Ontario, the Regional Municipality of Niagara has shared responsibilities for maintenance and rehabilitation of the bridges with Ontario Power Generation.

Client

The Region of Niagara

Project Highlights

In 2013, the Region of Niagara recognized that both bridges had reached the end of their service lives, and needed to be replaced. The Region retained Associated Engineering as prime consultant to replace the two structures. Our project team completed a Schedule C Class Environmental Assessment, preliminary design, detailed design, and construction administration services to replace both structures. The designs included environmental offsetting plans for local wildlife in the area. Environmental offsetting plans were required by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in order to mitigate the environmental impact of widening the causeway approaches to each of the bridges.

The Beaverdams Road structure utilizes a fully integral foundation to limit the superstructure depth and the complementary earthworks. The Power Canal structure utilizes a Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer deck and barrier wall system to provide a more durable structure.