MAADI Group Delivers Lightweight Bridge Solution for Urban Sports Complex in Ottawa

MAY 21, 2014—MONTREAL, CANADA – The stadium at TD Place in Ottawa, Ontario, has gained a new architectural and functional asset with the addition of a custom aluminum pedestrian bridge designed and built by MAADI Group. This cutting-edge bridge enhances both accessibility and aesthetics for thousands of sports fans and event attendees who pass through the stadium every year. Designed for maximum durability and low maintenance, the aluminum structure is a testament to modern engineering aligned with long-term sustainability.

Durable Aluminum Design Tailored to the Stadium at TD Place

When Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) needed a safe, permanent link between the arena section and the stadium stands at TD Place, they turned to the MAADI Group for a custom-engineered solution. The resulting aluminum pedestrian bridge spans 19.2 meters (63 feet) and is engineered to support a live load of 4.0 kPa. Its high-strength aluminum design offers excellent resistance to corrosion, an essential feature given Ottawa’s seasonal weather extremes.

Using aluminum as the primary building material not only ensures the bridge’s structural longevity but also reflects the project’s commitment to sustainable design. Aluminum requires little to no maintenance, resists rust, and can easily be repurposed or recycled—an important consideration in public infrastructure projects.

Enhancing Connectivity and Visitor Flow at the Stadium at TD Place

The installation of the pedestrian bridge has significantly improved the flow of foot traffic at the stadium at TD Place, particularly during large-scale events, CFL games, and concerts. Positioned above the player’s tunnel, the bridge serves as a critical connector between the two main public zones within the complex.

MAADI Group collaborated closely with the architectural team to ensure that the bridge would not interfere with spectator views, event lighting, or stadium logistics. The truss-style bridge was lifted into place via crane and mounted on pre-engineered supports, ensuring both stability and minimal disruption to the stadium’s operations.

Seamless Architectural Integration in a High-Visibility Environment

The stadium at TD Place is part of Ottawa’s historic Lansdowne Park redevelopment project, which blends modern amenities with heritage buildings and urban green space. MAADI’s aluminum bridge fits this environment perfectly—lightweight yet robust, modern yet understated in form.

The sleek bridge design integrates visually with the contemporary lines of the stadium while maintaining a neutral aluminum finish that doesn’t clash with the branding or signage of sports teams and sponsors. Custom aluminum guardrails and anti-slip walking surfaces also contribute to the bridge’s safety and usability for patrons of all ages.

Expansion Joints Designed for Extreme Temperature Swings

MAADI Engineers designed thermal expansion joints at each end of the bridge to enable the bridge to expand and contract up to 50.4 mm (2 in), allowing for a temperature gradient of 70 degrees, between -35°C and 35°C (-31°F to 95°F). The typical seasonal Stadium temperatures will vary from -15°C to 26°C (5°F to 79°F).

The bridge’s camber clears a 5 m (16 ft, 5 in) height by 6 m (19 ft, 8 in) width double line roadway used for maintenance and vehicles that enter the stadium field for parades and special events. The bridge’s walking surface has a mean grade of 8 percent, varying from end to end to accommodate the vertical clearance needed for the roadway path below.

Lightweight Aluminum Structure Built for Transport and Installation

The aluminum bridge’s arched-rail architectural design blends aesthetically with its natural surroundings, and provides durable functionality. The bridge is designed to handle light maintenance vehicles that, when fully loaded, weight approximately 1,000 kilograms (2,240 pounds) each. The bridge’s overall height of 9 feet 8 inches, when combined with the 3-foot-high trailer, comprised a 12-foot 8-inch trailered bridge that was able to clear the 13-foot-6-inch standard height overpass structures encountered during transport and was able to navigate smoothly around some very tight turns en route!

A custom wide-load flat-bed trailer was used to transport the pre-assembled bridge on its three-and-a-half-hour journey over 198 km (123 miles) from the manufacturing facility to the installation site at TD Place. The bridge was pre-assembled with fusion welding of the aluminum using the GMAW process. All welding on the bridge adheres to the CSA Standards W47.2 and W59.2 (Certification of Companies for Fusion Welding of Aluminum), and meets ISO9001: 2008 Quality Standards in manufacturing. MAADI Group is Division 1 Certified with a registered Professional Engineer responsible for all welding-related activities on the bridge and the qualified welders for the bridge project.

Fast, Efficient Aluminum Bridge Installation at TD Place

The TD Place Bridge was installed by 4 workmen and one crane operator in just 6 hours on April 28, 2014 using a 110-ton capacity crane. The stadium bridge weighs 7,360 kilograms (16,200 pounds), with a distributed load capacity of 4.8 kPa (100 psf), concentrated load capacity of 9.0 kN on a 750 mm x 750 mm area (2,000 pounds on a 30 in x 30 in area), and service vehicle capacity up to 1,000 kilograms (2,240 pounds), with a lateral wind charge of 410 Pa (8.5 psf).

Sleek Architectural Design for Stadium Connectivity

The bridge’s designers, Simon Lacasse, Eng. M.Sc.A., and Alexandre de la Chevrotière, P.E., President of MAADI Group, Inc., note, “The new TD Place Bridge is truly essential infrastructure for the new Stadium grounds. The Bridge provides fans and employees with direct and safe pedestrian access between the Stadium’s North and South stands for all Sports competitions and events. Our aluminum footbridge is aesthetically pleasing and has a sleek architectural look, with mill finish aluminum vertical picket fencing and handrails that link into aluminum railings at the South end of the bridge, and into steel guardrail at the North end. The high-strength aluminum bridge structure is maintenance-free and offers reliable daily use in all weather conditions year-round.”

Sustainable and Corrosion-Free Aluminum Bridge Solution

The aluminum bridge structure is entirely corrosion-free and maintenance-free, eliminating the need for expensive galvanizing or painting of steel due to rust. The structure’s AA6061-T6 aluminum extrusions can withstand harsh climate conditions including ice, snow, frigid temperatures, and high winds. Aluminum is fully recyclable with very high scrap value, and retains its strength properties when reused, unlike steel. These benefits, along with efficient transport and fast installation make this aluminum bridge structure highly cost-effective and sustainable.

“Aluminum is the ideal truss and railing material to integrate with the bridge’s slip-proof Ironwood™ decking to create a pedestrian bridge that is perfect for the heavy foot traffic at this Sports venue, and for light vehicle access by maintenance staff,” said de la Chevrotière, “MAADI Group wishes to express our thanks to TD Place Architect Yasmeen Bebal, OAA, MRAIC, LEED AP of Cannon Design; Dominique Gagnon, P.E., LEED PA, Project Manager, Evan Toole, EIT, Project Coordinator, and Mario Rannou, Superintendant, at the General Contracting firm Pomerleau; the entire Transportation team at Synergie Xpress Inc.; the skilled tour driver Mario Bergeron from Transport Watson; and to our very professional and skilled welding and assembly team in Terrebonne.”