November 8, 2017
The Town of Ste. Anne is a small community southeast of Winnipeg that is very proud of its bilingual heritage of almost two centuries. The picturesque, tree-lined Seine River meanders through the town with the aging Emile Champagne Bridge providing a shortcut from the main business district to Redemptorist Park and Villa Youville on the south side. Unfortunately, the old bridge had been restricted to foot traffic only in recent years and its service life was basically over.
Town officials decided to replace it with a pedestrian-only crossing and utilized Manitoba Municipal Bridge and Road Program funding to help cover the engineering study and some of the construction. Algonquin Bridge won the contract to design and supply a graceful new Bowstring Truss design in naturally weathering steel with wood decking.
Honouring the legacy of Emile Champagne
A plumber by trade, the late Emile Champagne was a beloved community member who was involved in the social fabric of Ste. Anne in every way. He was always helping people, serving on committees and was instrumental in organizing the building of the original bridge. It seemed only fitting that the new bridge proudly carries his name, complete with a commemorative plaque.
Algonquin involved in full project cycle
This project was first identified in 2015, with the Algonquin team offering assistance to the project engineers through the early and final design stages. We stayed with the project as it evolved and were ready for the tender call. Upon winning the contract, we had the bridge fabricated well ahead of schedule and stored it at our Thorndale, Ontario facility until the project team was ready for it. The complete project took three weeks on site, with the bridge being placed in less than one day.
Town Councilors, Ginette Gagnon and Wayne Setlack, were on hand for the official ribbon cutting ceremony on the evening of October 30, 2017.
