Abstract Manager

Located on Provincial Trunk Highway (PTH) 10 in the heart of Brandon Manitoba, the Daly Overpass was constructed in 1963 to convey traffic over the Canadian Pacific (CP) railway tracks and McDonald Avenue. The existing fifteen-span, three-lane structure is 60 years old and creates a ‘bottleneck’ in the roadway system in the City of Brandon. Due to the continued growth in the Brandon region, the deteriorating state of the existing structure and the importance of PTH 10 as a major arterial route, the existing bridge needs to be replaced.

Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure (MTI) is constructing a new four-lane facility to replace the existing overpass. Dillon was retained by MTI to design a new grade separated rail and roadway overpass and to complete the contract administration and inspection services during construction. The design work has been completed in 2021 and construction, which commenced in February, 2022 is well underway. The new grade separated crossing structures, associated roadways and active transportation pathway are planned to be operational by October 2023.

This major, multi-disciplinary transportation infrastructure project includes:

• New four-lane, two-span steel girder bridge;
• New four-lane, single-span box girder bridge;
• 128-meter-long earthen fill embankment connecting the bridge structures;
• New two-span steel truss pedestrian bridge, separate from the vehicular structures;
• Retaining wall systems including Bin Wall, Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) Walls and Cast-In-Place (CIP) Retaining Walls;
• Realignment and reconstruction of PTH 10, connecting roads and intersections;
• Multiple utility relocations;
• New land drainage systems, domestic sewer and water installations;
• Pedestrian staircases, site furnishings and landscaping.

A project of this magnitude comes with its unique set of challenges including resolving conflicts with existing private utilities and municipal infrastructure, the effective management of contaminated soils on-site, stakeholder engagement, construction staging and traffic management among a multitude of others.

A number of innovative tools and new technologies have been implemented to manage these challenges and mitigate risk to the client, working toward the project’s successful completion. Some of these tools include aerial drones and field scanners equipped with LiDAR and photogrammetry data collection capabilities, 3D point cloud and data processing software, and a comprehensive construction management software to manage the project’s documentation and budget.

This presentation will provide an overview of this major, multi-disciplinary construction project, outline some of the challenges encountered during construction and the innovative technologies, tools and methods used to resolve them.