Ava Road Bridge Rehabilitation Project
The Ava Road Bridge reopened to traffic on June 13, 2025. Closure of the underpass and work on the CN Rail crash wall have been completed, and the underpass reopened to traffic on July 23, 2025. Finishing work will be ongoing in the months of August and September 2025.
Approved construction approach
City staff, in collaboration with our engineering consultant, McIntosh Perry Consulting Engineers Ltd., conducted a thorough analysis of the project's timeline, costs, traffic, and other potential impacts. The analysis performed by McIntosh Perry demonstrated significant savings in both time and financial resources, if the bridge were to be fully closed during the rehabilitation project. As it proves to be the most efficient and cost-effective approach while minimizing disruptions to the community, City Council approved this recommended approach in March 2023.
Despite delays caused by shifting from staged construction to a full bridge closure approach, and ongoing discussions with CNR with respect to fulfilling their requirements, the project is currently progressing as planned. The chosen contractor has been finalized, and Phase 2 construction began in Winter 2024.
As of May 16, 2024, CNR has issued permits to allow the City to complete the required bridge construction work within the CN right-of-way. The City has proceeded with the closure of the Ava Road Bridge to facilitate the reconstruction work. This closure occurred the week of May 27, 2024. On June 13, 2025 the Ava Road Bridge was reopened to through-traffic. On July 23, 2025, the underpass has been reopened to allow through-traffic from Brant Avenue travelling westbound to access Ava Road.
Background
The Ava Road Bridge, constructed in 1958 is a four-span concrete slab on steel I-girder bridge with a total length of 59.73 m. The bridge is located in the City of Brantford between Paris Road and Brant Avenue. The bridge carries traffic on Brant Avenue over two (2) CNR tracks and the service road. The surrounding area at this site includes the intersections of Ava Road/ Brant Avenue and Paris Road/ Terrace Hill Street.
The bridge underwent major rehabilitation in 1985 and 1998. In 1998, the rehabilitation included removal of expansion joints, concrete patch repair at deck, piers, abutments, and diaphragms, replacement of bearings at the north abutment, blast cleaning and coating of girder ends and steel bearings, and replacement of deck waterproofing and pavement on the deck.
The project, originally made up of the bridge rehabilitation and intersection improvements, was split into two phases to improve traffic flow, and pedestrian and worker safety.
Aerial view of the site showing the intersection configuration prior to the Phase 1 work
Phase 1 - Completed in 2019
Phase 1 involved the re-alignment of the Paris Rd/Terrace Hill Street intersection to address operational deficiencies. The re-alignment forms part of the overall plan of the Ava Road Bridge rehabilitation to improve pedestrian safety movements across the bridge. Work commenced with the design and re-alignment of the Ava Road/Terrance Hill Street/Paris Road intersection and concluded with the reconstruction of the roadway, curb, sidewalk, boulevards, storm sewer and associated items.
Aerial view of the site showing the Phase 1 intersection improvements
Public Meeting - April 26, 2023
To inform Phase 2 of the project, a public meeting was held on Wednesday April 26, 2023 . We are pleased to share materials from the meeting [9 MB] for your information.
Phase 2 - Completed in 2025
A 2013 bridge inspection recommended the following: repair of the concrete throughout, replacement of the expansion joints, repair of the asphalt on the wearing surface and cleaning and painting the structural steel.
In 2021 the City retained McIntosh Perry Consulting Engineers Ltd. to carry out a detailed condition assessment of the bridge structure, as well as preliminary and detailed design. During the assessment, deterioration to some beams on the east side of the bridge was discovered. The deterioration of the beams was extensive enough to cause further investigation of the structural integrity of that particular portion of the bridge. Out of an abundance of caution, it was decided to close the east side of the bridge until the rehabilitation is complete.
The Project Team
If you have any questions about this project, please contact us using one of the following methods:
- By Mail – please mail to City of Brantford Environmental Service Admin Building, Attn: Thomas Coleman, City of Brantford, 324 Grand River Avenue, Brantford, ON N3T 4Y8
- Phone – please contact the City at 519-759-4150, Ext. 5413
- By E-mail – please contact the Project Team
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