Renewal of St. Patrick Street Bridge and Porter’s Island Bridge

Project description

The City of Ottawa is undertaking the preliminary and detailed design for the renewal of the St. Patrick Street bridge and the Porter’s Island bridge.

St. Patrick Street Bridge

The project limits are the St. Patrick Street bridge and approaches between the Crichton Street/Vanier Parkway intersection and 50 metres west of Lower Charlotte Street.

The overall scope of this project is:

• To complete a life-cycle renewal of the bridge to extend its service life; and
• To carry out active transportation modifications on the bridge and approaches for a designated unidirectional cycling facility along both sides of St. Patrick Street, and integration of dedicated cycling connections to adjacent routes.

Porter’s Island Bridge:

The bridge is located on Island Lodge Road. The project limits are the bridge and its approaches. The overall scope of this project is to complete a life-cycle renewal of the bridge to extend its service life.

Project timing

Preliminary and detailed design: spring 2023 to spring 2024
Design assignment completion: late summer 2024
Construction start: winter 2024/2025
Construction completion: fall 2026 (to be confirmed)

Budget

Design: $1.4 million (estimate)
Construction: $18 million (estimate)

Public engagement

A public information session was held in July 2024, to present the preliminary design drawings to the public. At this time attendees were able to review the design, ask questions and provide comments on the proposed works.

Accessibility

Accessibility is an important consideration for the City of Ottawa. The City makes every effort to provide access through and around construction sites. If you require a disability-related accommodation, please contact the project team listed below. Accessible formats and communication supports are available, upon request.

Safety

The City of Ottawa is committed to safety in and around project sites. The project team continues to work closely with the industry and to comply with recommendations provided by municipal, provincial and federal health officials, as well as the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

For any emergency outside normal working hours, please call the City at 3-1-1.
For general project information, please check the City website or contact the City’s Project Manager.
For construction related questions or concerns, please contact the Contractor Representative or the Contract Administrator.

City Project Manager
Lei Gong, PhD, P.Eng.
Senior Engineer, Infrastructure Services
Design and Construction - Municipal
100 Constellation Drive, Ottawa, ON K2G 6J8
Tel: 613-580-2424, ext. 22738

Contractor Representative
Mike Hobbs
Clearwater Structures Inc
Tel:  905-550-7919

Contract Administrator
Marc Proulx
Parsons
Tel: 613-292-4234

In mid-December, the City of Ottawa will begin construction for the renewal of the St. Patrick Street Bridge & the Porter’s Island Bridge.

Why: The existing bridge structures require a major rehabilitation to meet the current code requirements and extend their service lives.

What: The scope of work will include the completion of life-cycle renewal of the St. Patrick Street Bridge and Porter’s Island Bridge to extend their service lives; and to carry out active transportation modifications on the St. Patrick Street Bridge and approaches for a designated unidirectional cycling facility along both sides of St. Patrick Street, and integration of dedicated cycling connections to adjacent routes.

When: Work is expected to begin in mid-December with preparatory work for the first few weeks. No construction work will occur over the winter months but will resume in spring 2025.

Where: The project limit is St. Patrick Street Bridge and approaches between the Crichton Street/Vanier Parkway intersection and 50 metres west of Lower Charlotte Street; and Porter’s Island Bridge and its approaches located on Island Lodge Road.

Who: The City of Ottawa has retained the contractor, Clearwater Structures Inc, to complete the work.

Traffic impacts

St. Patrick Street Bridge: Two traffic lanes per direction will be provided on the St. Patrick Street Bridge. Short term complete closures during off-peak hours may be required during bridge jacking operations and bearing replacement.

Porter’s Island Bridge: A single alternating direction traffic lane will be available across the Porter’s Island Bridge. Westbound right-turn and eastbound left-turn movements onto the bridge from St. Patrick Street at the St. Patrick/Island Lodge/Cobourg intersection will be detoured.

Pedestrian and cycling access

St Patrick Street Bridge: Pedestrian and cyclist access on St Patrick Street Bridge will be maintained.

Porter’s Island Bridge: Pedestrian access on Porter’s Island Bridge will be maintained. Cyclists are recommended to dismount and walk their bikes on the sidewalk.

Construction disruptions

The contractor will take every precaution to minimize interruptions to the everyday life of your family and/or operation of your business, but, as you can appreciate, there may be some inconvenience during the course of the work, such as traffic delays, noise and dust. You may feel vibrations at your home or business due to the use of heavy equipment needed to complete this work. This is quite common and typically not an issue for existing structures. The Contractor will monitor vibrations during these operations. We would like to thank you for your patience and co-operation.

The contractor is fully responsible for any damage to private property as a result of their construction activities. If you think that damage has occurred to your property as a result of construction, please contact the General Contractor directly. The contractor is required by the City to carry liability insurance before any work may proceed.

For daytime construction activity hours of work, the City of Ottawa follows provincial requirements and the City’s Noise By-law (2017-255).

The City of Ottawa held a public information session at the Lowertown Community Centre and Pool on Thursday, July 11, 2024, to discuss a reconstruction project planned in your neighbourhood. Through this session, the latest design drawings, proposed schedule, and construction information related to the Renewal of St. Patrick Street Bridge & Porter’s Island Bridge were on display for review and staff were present to answer questions and receive comments.

In addition to the above meeting, residents can also participate through viewing and commenting on the online documents:

Presentation [ 13.2 MB ]

Project summary

What: To complete a life-cycle renewal of the bridges to extend their service lives; and to carry out active transportation modifications on the St. Patrick Street bridge and approaches for a designated unidirectional cycling facility along both sides of St. Patrick Street, and integration of dedicated cycling connections to adjacent routes.

Why: The existing bridge structures require a major rehabilitation to meet the current code requirements and extend their service lives.

When: The preliminary design phase for the project is complete. The detailed design is expected to be completed by the end of this summer. Construction is anticipated to be carried out from late fall 2024 to summer 2027 subject to funding approval.

Where: St. Patrick Street Bridge is located between the Crichton Street/Vanier Parkway intersection and 50 metres west of Lower Charlotte Street, while the Porter’s Island Bridge is located on Island Lodge Road.

Who: The City of Ottawa has retained Parsons to develop the design for this project.

For further information about this project and/or to submit comments on the project, please contact the City project manager:

City Project Manager
Lei Gong, PhD, P.Eng.
Senior Engineer, Infrastructure Services
Design and Construction - Municipal
100 Constellation Drive, Ottawa, ON K2G 6J8
Tel: 613-580-2424, ext. 22738

Consultant Project Manager
Patrick Mergel, P.Eng.
Senior Structural Engineer
Parsons
1223 Michael Street North, Ottawa, ON, K1J 7T2
Tel.: 613-691-1564