Craigflower Bridge Replacement

Project Description

The Craigflower Bridge has been in operation since the early colonial days of Victoria, and this recent replacement is believed to be the fourth bridge on this site. As part of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s historic Craigflower Farm, the bridge served as a transportation link between Craigflower School and Craigflower Manor, both National Historic Sites. The bridge site also has unique archaeological merit, encompassing three distinct periods and types of human habitation which span thousands of years.

Herold Engineering was selected as the Prime Consultant and bridge designers for the project for the Municipality of Saanich and the Town of View Royal who were dual owners of the bridge.
The 120-metre-long bridge replaces a very narrow and busy 80-year-old two-lane creosoted timber trestle bridge with a four-span structure using continuous Vierendeel steel trusses and a non-symmetric partial precast and composite cast-in-place concrete deck that varies from 20 m to 22 m. Being in a semi-marine environment, it was desired that welded connections minimize the use of mouse-holes and other openings. Connections were therefore specified using a combination of CPJ and PJP weld methods.

Key challenges on the project were design, schedule, budget, traffic disruption on a very busy roadway, First Nations archeological constraints, a very environmentally sensitive marine crossing of the Gorge Waterway, and the maintaining of pedestrian access during construction, including access to both an adjacent elementary school and a secondary school. Construction of the piers also required the relocation of existing oyster beds to adjacent areas.