June 17, 2025
This rental bridge was designed to provide construction access for tunnelling work being carried out for the East Don Trail by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA).
Due to the extremely heavy equipment involved, the bridge had to be engineered to accommodate significant loads such as: LTM1750 (63,000 kg), KAMAG K2400S (62,640 kg) and KAMAG SPMT (68,800 kg). Plus, the construction vehicles had to carry large precast concrete tunnel sections across the river to a staging area.
The 36.9 m bridge needed to be cantilever launched across the Don River with only 21 m of available space behind the abutment. The launch sequence required 12 stages and approximately 100 tons of counterweight.
Despite the challenges, the bridge was successfully installed in roughly five days. An Algonquin Bridge representative was on-site for four of those days to support the assembly and ensure a smooth installation process.
The East Don Trail will fill a significant gap in the Don Valley Trail System and provide a valuable connection along this trail network, which extends from the north end of the city south to Lake Ontario. It will also provide a key connection to the existing Gatineau Trail and future Meadoway Trail.
Algonquin Bridge maintains an inventory of these popular bridge systems, ready to be shipped anywhere in Canada for permanent or temporary applications like detour bridges or emergency bridge washout replacements. All components are hot-dip-galvanized for maximum durability. They are easy to assemble with local crews and are completely reusable. Assembled bridges can be cantilever launched from one side or they can be crane-lifted into place.
