Ava Road Bridge Rehabilitation Project
Public Meeting
The Ava Road Bridge project has received the approval of City Council and will be going out to tender very soon. The state of the bridge requires that both the deck and the supporting steel girders be replaced. Two approaches have been considered, the first is a staged approach with half of the bridge being demolished and rebuilt followed by the other half. The second is a full closure of the road and demolition and construction being carried out on the whole bridge all at once. Analysis of the two options showed that the staged approach would cost significantly more and would require two construction seasons to complete as opposed to one season for the full closure. Therefore, City Council decided to proceed with the full closure with the work starting this summer of 2023.
We will be holding a public meeting to provide more information on the project and answer any questions that you may have. The meeting will be held:
Wednesday April 26th, 2023
4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
T.B. Costain/SC Johnson Community Centre
16 Morrell Street, Brantford, Ontario
The meeting will be a drop-in format with information about the project posted around the room on display boards. Staff from the City and the Engineering Consultant will be on hand to provide information and answer questions.
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The project, originally made up of the bridge rehabilitation and intersection improvements, was split into two stages to improve traffic flow, and pedestrian and worker safety.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 and the Phase 2 bridge rehabilitation
Phase 2 - Currently Underway
Phase 2 involves bridge rehabilitation including deck repairs, and road and sidewalk re-alignment on the Ava Road Bridge between Paris Road and Brant Ave as well as replacement / installation of traffic signals. A 2013 bridge inspection recommended the following: repair poor concrete throughout, replace expansion joints, repair poor asphalt on wearing surface and clean and paint structural steel.
In 2021 the City retained McIntosh Perry Consulting Engineers Ltd. to carry out a detailed condition assessment of the bridge structure, 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 concern about 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 and it will remain closed until rehabilitation is complete.
This page will continue to be updated as progress is made.
Contacting 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 Mike Campbell, City of Brantford, 58 Dalhousie Street, Brantford, ON N3T 2J2
- Phone – please contact the City at 519-759-4150 Ext. 5247
- By E-mail – please contact the Project Team
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