Avalon Place Highway 7/8 Multi-Use Trail Crossing

[Acitta]

Spoken like someone who has never needed to get N-S in Kitchener on anything other than a car or train... While I personally think making Westmount and Homer Watson highway crossings better was available and would have left funds for other uses, I can't emphasize how much that highway is a gash through the city if you are outside of vehicular travel.

I also don't think the key value of its use has anything to do with that dead mall.

I was considering applying for a job at the GRT facility on Strasburg a few years ago, and one of the reasons I didn't was because the transit to/from my home was not very feasible. But if the pedestrian bridge had been in, I could have taken the bus and gotten off at Stirling/Greenbrook, and had less than a kilometre to walk to get to work. And honestly, the more pedestrians we can potentially remove from the Ottawa St roundabouts, the better. I hate driving through them in a vehicle, I can't imagine what it's like to try and navigate them safely on foot. It's shocking that more people don't get hit through that stretch.

The #3 bus goes right by it.

[Acitta]

Chandler Dr. 2024-03-08
   
I don't know what this structure is for. It doesn't seem to be on the engineering documents. It is separated from the ramp which goes to the east. There are stairs going to be installed on the west side of the ramp, so it doesn't look like it is something going to be attached to the bridge.
   

[ZEBuilder]

I don't know what this structure is for. It doesn't seem to be on the engineering documents. It is separated from the ramp which goes to the east. There are stairs going to be installed on the west side of the ramp, so it doesn't look like it is something going to be attached to the bridge.

Instead of using the GRT parking lot to construct the bridge like is shown on the engineering plans they're doing it there which is why the one lane of Chandler is closed. They first built all that false work about a month ago, then two weeks ago they had it covered with tarps, presumably for the concrete deck to cure. So in the coming weeks the steel frame of the bridge should be going up.

When they were building the false work both ends were formed in such a way that it would sit in the notch on the abutments on both sides.

[Acitta]

I don't know what this structure is for. It doesn't seem to be on the engineering documents. It is separated from the ramp which goes to the east. There are stairs going to be installed on the west side of the ramp, so it doesn't look like it is something going to be attached to the bridge.

Instead of using the GRT parking lot to construct the bridge like is shown on the engineering plans they're doing it there which is why the one lane of Chandler is closed. They first built all that false work about a month ago, then two weeks ago they had it covered with tarps, presumably for the concrete deck to cure. So in the coming weeks the steel frame of the bridge should be going up.

When they were building the false work both ends were formed in such a way that it would sit in the notch on the abutments on both sides.

That makes sense. I should have thought of that.

[Acitta]

   

[Rainrider22]

Please tell me that that ugly thing isn't going to be the bridge...

[Acitta]

Please tell me that that ugly thing isn't going to be the bridge...

No, they are just practising for the real one which they will build after they take that one apart. :-)

[bravado]

Please tell me that that ugly thing isn't going to be the bridge...

Who cares about beauty when you’re driving everywhere?

Signed, 

Your local neighbourhood civil engineer and/or planner

[KevinL]

It's just the framework, the fencing or mesh that encloses it may have a better aesthetic.

[ijmorlan]

It's just the framework, the fencing or mesh that encloses it may have a better aesthetic.

Indeed, the final result could be anywhere from stunning(ly ugly) to stunning(ly beautiful).

[cherrypark]

Design is just the trusses with some mesh applied.

Wouldn't count on it being any more visually pleasing than the same with some mesh panels. Will be lucky if it's painted white as well and not just galvanized.

[clasher]

Structural steel is galvanized individually before it's erected, so this won't be galvanized. White could be the final colour, a lot of structural steel is primed with grey or red oxide. They'll probably paint the bolts after the bridge is plumbed and torqued.

[ac3r]

I like it. It's simple and functional. It can certainly look better. I've designed two bridges in my career, one in Sweden and one in Iceland. The Swedish one ended up quite basic due to the clients choice (and the engineering team) but it suited the look of functionalist architecture often used in Scandinavia. The other was gorgeous, but cost a hell of a lot. Our region isn't great with money so they probably didn't feel the need to get extravagant.

[cherrypark]

Structural steel is galvanized individually before it's erected, so this won't be galvanized. White could be the final colour, a lot of structural steel is primed with grey or red oxide. They'll probably paint the bolts after the bridge is plumbed and torqued.

Helpful info, though I did mean the mesh/posts that are to be added to enclose the structure. Just thinking of the other crossings around the region (such as the one east of Courtland).

[Acitta]

2024-05-19