In the case of the Strandherd-Armstrong bridge, construction won’t happen across the river. Instead, workers will built the bridge at a staging area and use a track system to slide it into place between River Rd. and Prince of Wales Dr.

The bridge will be constructed on tracks on the east side. At the same time workers are assembling the bridge, others will build a trestle system across the river so they can eventually push the bridge into place.

“This is going to be an impressive engineering feat,” Gloucester-South Nepean Steve Desroches said.

Desroches, who represents the area, said he has been receiving calls from residents already wanting information on where they can watch the bridge being built. The calls have prompted City Hall to start thinking about how they can accommodate spectators when the bridge is slid into place.

That could happen in fall 2011, but there are no time restrictions.

The last time a bridge commanded an audience in Ottawa was in 2007 when the province replaced the Island Park Dr. bridge at Hwy. 417. The replacement happened overnight after workers built the bridge in a staging area.

Hundreds of people filled bleacher seating to watch the climactic moment of the bridge construction.

Rolling the Strandherd-Armstrong bridge across the river could bring back that excitement.

“I expect there will be the same level of interest,” Desroches said.

There are several advantages to building the bridge on land rather than over the river.

Marcel Delph, the city’s manager of the project, said environmental impacts are minimized and worker safety is enhanced.

“We will be casting the concrete deck in the bridge’s final location because it weighs more and jacking the steel superstructure would be very heavy,” Delph said.

The bridge will weigh about 8,000 metric tonnes when it’s slid into place.

Delph said this construction plan is unique for such a large bridge.

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