Toronto Deploys Bridge Jacking to Repair Bridge Girders

Brief 

Crews are using bridge jacking to raise the Humber Bridge in Toronto to allow for repairs while traffic continues to cross. The bridge’s girders will be repaired one girder at a time, and the refurbished bridge will be strong enough to support light rail transit.

Insight

Aunique construction method called bridge jacking is being used to lift the Humber Bridge above a busy intersection in Toronto while cars are driving on it.The bridge is being lifted at Islington Avenue and Finch Avenue West as part of the Finch West light rail transit (LRT) project.

“The purpose of the bridge jacking project is to refurbish, reinforce and strengthen the bridge’s foundations for works needed to accommodate the Finch West LRT’s guideway,” a Metrolinx spokesperson said in an email to the Daily Commercial News.

“Repairs and reinforcement of the bridge needed to happen, but we couldn’t afford to shut down the entire Finch and Islington intersection that sits overtop. By jacking and reinforcing each girder individually while traffic continues to flow overtop, restoration and reconstruction work can be completed both more quickly and with less disruption than other techniques.”

For the Finch West LRT, Metrolinx is the owner. The project is being delivered through a public-private partnership by Mosaic Transit Group, consisting of ACS Infrastructure Canada Inc., Aecon and CRH Canada Group Inc.Work on this portion of the project has been ongoing since January and should take three months to complete. Once the work is finished, the bridge will be widened and upgraded.

The bridge is being lifted six millimetres.

“It is a multi-pronged process that is completed in various stages,” the spokesperson noted. “Bridge jacking is a process that ensures the structural integrity of a bridge remains unaffected as work is in progress. In the case of the Humber River Bridge, the key architectural components of its concrete girders are lifted incrementally, as teams refurbish each one.”