Confederation Bridge under microscope at engineering conference
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 | 11:55 AM AT
CBC News
Civil engineers from around the world have gathered in P.E.I. to discuss how the Confederation Bridge is holding up against the elements 10 years after its opening.
The Confederation Bridge is considered one of the crowning achievements of civil engineering.
(CBC)
The bridge, which marked its 10th anniversary in June, is considered one of the crowning achievements of civil engineering. At 12.9 kilometres, it is the longest span over ice-covered waters in the world and was built to last a century.
"Do we believe that it still has a good chance of getting to 100 years?" asked Peter Buckland of the B.C.-based firm Buckland Taylor, which is charged with annual inspections of the bridge.
"A large part of our work is checking up on those things on an annual basis. We do an annual inspection, we do an annual report, and the answer that came here to the best of my knowledge is it should be fine for the next 90."
About 75 engineers from Japan, France, the United States and Canada have gathered in Charlottetown to discuss how the high performance concrete has stood up to 10 years of traffic, wind and, the biggest concern at the time of building, ice.
The bridge piers were designed to lift and crack the ice.
(CBC)
Concerns regarding ice and the bridge were two-fold. There was the obvious problem of designing the bridge so that it would stand up to the pressures of the ice pack, but there were also worries it could hold ice in the Northumberland Strait longer, making springs on Prince Edward Island colder.
Neither concern has been an issue in the first decade.
Calgary engineer Tom Brown, the ice consultant during construction, helped design the piers to lift and crack the ice so it could flow past the bridge with minimal buildup of ice and pressure on the piers. Brown said so far, the weather has also been co-operating.
"There is no doubt that we've seen ice conditions that I would describe as being less severe than the ice conditions that were in our mind when we were doing the design."
Peter Buckland says the bridge is holding up very well.
(CBC)
The conference comes at a time when the public is nervous about the condition of bridges in North America, not long after the collapse of an overpass in Montreal and a bridge in Minneapolis, and reports that many bridges and overpasses are reaching the ends of their lifespans.
"I wouldn't lose a moment's sleep on that one, really," said Buckland.
"I do know it very well and we were very conscientious in checking it and maintaining it."
The conference, which began Sunday, closes Wednesday with a tour of the inside of the Confederation Bridge.
