EDMONTON — Late last month the first concrete span for the Whitemud LRT Bridge for the Valley Line Phase 1 was installed alongside the existing 75 Street bridge over Whitemud Drive near Mill Woods.
Two concrete spans make up the Whitemud LRT Bridge which will carry the Valley Line Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) along 75/66 Street to and from Mill Woods.
Each span weighs nearly 600 tonnes and is more than 32 metres in length.
The two spans that make up the bridge are the eighth and ninth elevated spans, respectively, installed on the project thus far. The first concrete span was installed at the Davies Station site on Dec. 17, 2018. Six more have been placed over the past several weeks on or near the Davies Station site adjacent to 75 Street, south of Wagner Road.
In total, the project consists of 45 elevated guideway spans. Most will be installed to accommodate the Davies Station elevated platform, while several will be installed near the Muttart Conservatory leading up to the Tawatina Bridge over the North Saskatchewan River.
The spans were moved into place using Mammoet’s Self-Propelled Modular Trailers. These multi-axle mobile platforms lifted the span from its storage location along Whitemud Drive, used a hydraulic jacking system to elevate the span to the correct height, and drove it to the install location. The span was then moved over top of the piers on which it would be set and was slowly lowered into position.
During the installation, the height, angle and level of the lift were closely monitored by a team of more than a dozen operators and technicians.
The first phase of the Valley Line project will connect Mill Woods to downtown Edmonton with about 13 kilometres of light rail transit that includes 11 stops. The route also features an elevated station incorporating a transit centre and park and ride, and a transfer point to the existing LRT at Churchill Square.
The line will use low-floor, urban-styled vehicles to provide more pedestrian-friendly access at street level stops. The city is also planning embedded tracks in residential and commercial areas so it can be integrated into the traffic flow.
Preconstruction work began in March 2016 and stage one of the Valley Line LRT is expected to be operational in 2020.
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