The 202m, six-span bridge over the Rideau River will remain open during the seismic retrofit and construction with only four partial lane closures.
Constructed in 1964, the McIlraith Bridge links Smyth Road on the east and Main Street on the west. The retrofit is expected to be complete by the end of 2015. Other remaining work includes a new detour, new paintwork, installation of bird screens, lane reductions and street light improvements.
The installation of bird screens was a legal requirement by the Ministry of Natural Resources in order to prevent barn swallows from nesting under the bridge. As barn swallows are a protected by the Endangered Species Act, nesting activities would have potentially interrupted the construction process.
The rendering below represents how the bridge will look following rehabilitation with the steelwork painted in grey and new luminaries added.
