St. Andrews Lock & Dam Rehabilitation Project

The St. Andrews Lock and Dam Bridge in Lockport, Manitoba is a heritage structure stretching 454 meters. It's an essential route for commuters and a key component in controlling floods across the Red River. The bridge is divided into three main sections: a 90-meter west approach, a central structure encompassing seven truss spans each measuring 40.8 meters (including the river dam), and an east approach. Built in 1907, the bridge is currently under its second round of rehabilitation.

MD Steele led the rehabilitation project as the General Contractor on behalf of the owner, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). The project was carried out through a $45M design-bid-build contract, focusing on replacing and widening the bridge deck and reinforcing the structure to eliminate load restrictions. Previously, the bridge could support trucks up to 36 tons, but now it allows passage of unrestricted legal traffic.

The deck rehabilitation includes a complete replacement of the concrete slab and longitudinal stringers in the central truss spans. The approach spans rehab includes partial-depth deck slab replacement, and addition of a new pedestrian sidewalk. As the project construction engineer, Spannovation analyzed and evaluated the capacity of a typical truss span to replace permanent bracing members while still accommodating one lane of traffic during construction. We developed jacking procedures and associated temporary works for bearing replacement at Pier 1 and the East Abutment locations. The Pier 1 jacking operation involved lifting 600 tons. After replacing the bearings, a comprehensive analysis assessed the bridge's final service condition, taking into account the dam curtain loads and ensuring the replaced bearings' support elevations maintained overall safety.