The MAADI Group engineering firm, Montreal, Quebec, has installed the longest aluminum pony-truss-style pedestrian bridge in Canada, in the city of Brossard, Quebec.
March 30, 2012—MONTREAL, CANADA – The bridge spans a steep ditch area, connecting a newly-built residential subdivision to Brossard’s nearby mass transit bus hub, and to local parks and amenities. The footbridge will become a recreational route, completing the existing Saint-Hubert cycling network, and providing full access to the new Brossard cycling network this year.
The complete bridge transport and installation took place in less than one day, on March 9, 2012, as television crews and local residents recorded the event with video and still cameras. The structurally strong and corrosion-free aluminum pedestrian bridge, designed and installed by MAADI Group, is expected to serve generations of Brossard-area residents well for many decades, with virtually no maintenance required.
The innovative aluminum footbridge structure’s finished length is 44 meters (145 feet), with 54-inch-high horizontal guardrails along the bridge’s sides. Prior to installation, the bridge was separated into three sections, and pre-assembled into one massive structure that was carefully hoisted onto a two-part truck for its police-escorted caravan ride to the job site. On site, a 350-ton crane used four semi-trailers to counter the bridge’s weight during unloading and positioning. Precise planning of the transport and installation of the 19,450-kilogram (42,800-pound) bridge were executed smoothly and efficiently.
“This type of aluminum footbridge is a very cost-effective and eco-friendly way to provide easy access for all types of commercial, industrial, and institutional building and construction projects and marine applications,” said MAADI Group CEO, Alex de la Chevrotière, “A recent Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) study, conducted by Deloitte Inc., shows that these types of civil engineering projects gain many cost benefits by choosing aluminum as the primary bridge material, mainly because they require zero maintenance over their life,” he said, “Decades later, the aluminum components retain high value as recyclable material.”
De la Chevrotière notes, “The TCO approach emphasizes lower overall cost over time for two main reasons: first, aluminum is corrosion free, and therefore the aluminum bridge is maintenance free, unlike a steel bridge that must be galvanized or re-painted as it rusts over time; and second, at the end of its useful life, the aluminum in the structure is fully recyclable with a very high scrap value, and will retain all of its strength properties when reused over and over again. These benefits, along with the bridge’s ease of transport and installation make the aluminum structure extremely cost-competitive, as well as a sustainable alternative to steel.”
“MAADI Group is grateful to our project partners, the Aluminum Research and Development Center of Québec, the Aluminum Association of Canada, the National Research Council of Canada, Canada Economic Development for the Québec Region, and our supplier Laser AMP,” said de la Chevrotière, “We also thank Rio Tinto Alcan, Julia Côté of Congeres, and of course, the City of Brossard! Its residents will have a safe and convenient way to enjoy everything that Brossard has to offer for many years to come.”
