Abstract Manager

Highway 401 is one of the busiest highways in North America and accelerated bridge rehabilitation methods are increasingly common to minimize lane closures and ultimately reduce impacts to the public. The Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) retained Stantec (formerly Morrison Hershfield Limited) to complete various bridge rehabilitation contracts on Highway 401 to extend the service life of the structures by a minimum of 15 years.

This case study will focus on the accelerated construction techniques and staging strategy utilizing Mobile Work Zone Barrier (MWZB) systems for the rehabilitation of the Rockport Road EBL and WBL Overpasses. The rehabilitation scope at these sites consisted of a patch/waterproof/pave rehabilitation of the bridge decks, bridge barrier replacement, concrete repairs to various components and approach roadway works. The design team was provided with the restriction of no long-duration single lane closures on Highway 401 being permitted, except for two (2) 64-hour closures per structure. This was the first time the MTO (East Region) had specified rehabilitation of this scope being completed within such a short time period.

The factors that influenced the design approach for use of the MWSB will be reviewed in addition to a review of the lessons learned from the construction phase of the project with the bulk of the work completed in the 2025 construction season.