LATEST NEWS
December 2, 2009
British Columbia, Alberta firms shortlisted for Calgary bridge design
Engineers from Alberta and British Columbia have made the short list for the top design concepts that will be used to build a second pedestrian bridge over the Bow River in Calgary.
The Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) and its 10 member advisory committee selected three design submissions that will move forward to the next stage of the competition for the new St. Patrick’s Island pedestrian bridge in East Village.
“It was a tough decision because each submission was compelling in its own way,” said Chris Ollenberger, CMLC president and CEO.
“The three finalists were chosen because they’re respectful, elegant and functional, and offer different attributes for consideration,” he said.
The finalists are:
• Buckland and Taylor Ltd. (Vancouver) and Kitchell – Architecture + Design (Victoria, BC);
• ARUP with Falco Schmitt Architects (London, UK); and,
• RFR (Paris, France) and Halsall (Calgary).
The finalists were chosen from a group of 33 submissions that were received from around the world.
The entries included a wide variety of ideas and concepts.
“The advisory committee agreed that the bridge should be simple and elegant, and that the scale of the structure, in relation to the site and its surroundings, be complimentary and not be overwhelming,” said Ollenberger.
“Public commentary also supported this direction and we believe that we have three strong, feasible concepts to move forward with.”
The advisory committee is comprised of community residents from East Village, Inglewood and Bridgeland, Calgary business leaders, architects, engineers and CMLC management.
Stantec Consulting Ltd. produced a technical overview for all 33 submissions, in order to compare every concept against the criteria described in the Request for Submission document released in mid August.
The bridge will link St. Patrick’s Island with East Village to the south and the Bow River pathway system to the north.
It will provide improved linkages for cyclists and pedestrians to nearby communities including East Village, Inglewood and Bridgeland.
A different approach was used on the proposed $22-million Peace Bridge, which was awarded to Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. This time, a design contest was held for this new bridge.
The St. Patrick’s bridge, like the Peace Bridge, is expected to cost about $25 million.
However, the city must make minor design changes to the Peace Bridge to lower the cost of construction tender bids.
The three finalists will be paid $50,000 each to offer more detailed designs before a committee will pick a winner early next year.
| MOST POPULAR STORIES |
- Government takes over Northwest Territories P3 bridge project
- Dominion Construction gets two B.C. contracts
- International Living Building Institute launches new challenge
- Construction restarting on hospital in Fort St. John, British Columbia
- Venues decommissioned in Olympic afterglow
- 20 Most Popular Stories
| TODAY’S TOP CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS |
These projects have been selected from 313 projects with a total value of $3,164,198,755 that Reed Construction Data Building Reports reported on yesterday.
$250,000,000 Division No 4 MB Prebid
$149,200,000 Fort Nelson BC Tenders
HYDROELECTRIC GENERATING STATIONS
$68,000,000 Sunshine Coast RD BC Negotiated
| CURRENT STORIES |
- Venues decommissioned in Olympic afterglow
- Canadian Construction Association chair bids farewell
- Hogg’s Hollow tragedy changed Ontario’s construction industry
- Wood being considered as preferred building material for federal projects
- Grizzly Oil Sands seeks approval for project near Fort McMurray
- Search continues for sustainable architecture
- Seven British Columbia communities sign Wood First agreements
- U.S. construction employment declines in January
- Ottawa unveils plan to cut red tape
- Pride, sadness as Hogg's Hollow memorial unveiled
- Despite safety improvements, underground dangers still exist
- ‘Sandhogs’ who perished had diverse personal stories
- Commemorative quilt also a story of victims’ families
- Filling labour gap a top priority for incoming Canadian Construction Association chair
- Niagara Construction Association president worked her way up
- Pursuit of LEED could result in professional negligence, insurance executive warns
- Nova Scotia officials ‘comfortable’ covering cost of $60-million wind plant
- New Brunswick plans to install wildlife fencing for construction season
| ALEX’S ECONOMICS BLOG |

Reed Construction Data Chief Economist Alex Carrick discusses current developments in the North American economic environment with emphasis on the construction industry.
- Sub-sector investment spending intentions from Statistics Canada’s latest survey (March 17, 2010)
- A dozen incredible measurement sets on Canada’s changing ethnic mix (March 9, 2010)
- How fragile is recovery around the world? (March 3, 2010)
- More

| PROJECT NEWS BRIEFS |
Updates on Canadian construction projects from Reed Construction Data’s research team. More 
- Rounthwaite Dick & Hadley Architects begin work on arena plans for Flamborough, Ontario (Aug 17, 2009)
- Orillia Market Square aims for LEED Silver certification (Jun 25, 2009)
- Designs for new York Region District School Board building features energy efficiency (Jun 23, 2009)
- IPC Energy considers Milford location for future wind farm (May 22, 2009)
- Waterloo partnership seeks LEED Silver for West Side Family YMCA and District Library (May 22, 2009)



