August 31, 2001
Daily Commercial News
Special Section, Page 6
SIX PROJECTS WIN ONTARIO CONCRETE AWARDS

Gordon Street Bridge Reconstruction

During the preliminary design stages, consulting engineers Tottem Sims Hubicki (TSH)
considered several alternatives before selecting a four-span, Con/Span Canada structure for the Guelph project.

Aesthetics and speed of construction were both factors. The contractor, Chant Construction Ltd., poured the footings with a special form to ensure that the Con/Span units would sit on a flat, level surface. Con Cast Pipe Ltd. manufactured the units in
its plant south of Guelph.

In order to meet the tight construction schedule, the company had to maintain a high rate of production.

Casting of the precast units required double pouring on a daily basis. Units were delivered to the site for immediate installation.

Working with a 10-man crew, it took Chant only two days to install the 40 units that make up the bridge.

Once the units were installed, all of the backfilling and roadwork was completed within a three-week period.

The new bridge opened last Dec. 1 after only three months of construction and less than nine months after initial site inspection.

A total of 26 entries were received in the competition.

The judges were: Frank Anrep of Frank Anrep & Associates Ltd.; John Fowler of the Canadian Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute; Bob Halsall of Halsall Associates Ltd.; James Hettinger of James Hettinger Architect; John Hull of the Ready Mixed Concrete Association of Ontario; professor Jurij Leshchyshyn of Ryerson Polytechnic University; professor Michael Thomas of the University of Toronto; and Bernard Watt of Bernard H. Watt, Architect.

The sponsoring organizations and companies also include Axim Italcementi Group, the Concrete Floor Contractors Association of Ontario, the Consulting Engineers of Ontario, Grace Construction Products, Master Builders Technologies, the Ontario Association of Architects, the Ontario Cast-In-Place Concrete Development Council, the Ontario General Contractors Association and the Reinforcing Steel Institute of Ontario.