November 7, 2022
This North Saanich project was part of a major washout remediation stemming from the November 2021 “atmospheric river” weather event that devastated a significant portion of the transportation infrastructure in southern BC. For the replacement, the District of North Saanich opted for one of AIL’s highly resilient Geotextile Reinforced Soil (GRS) Bridges.
AIL’s GRS Bridges put the dirt to work
Our GRS technology is a patented buried arch bridge system that uses steel anchor rods to connect a structural steel plate arch to the multi-layered backfill/geotextile composite and transfers the loads onto that surrounding GRS mass. GRS Bridges are fish- and wildlife-friendly, very resilient and don’t require concrete footings or pile foundations.
Plus, in this case, the arch was made from our corrosion/abrasion-resistant Dur-A-Span Structural Aluminum Plate, so it will outperform in aggressive soil environments to deliver a design service life of over 75 years.
Project needed to be installed within tight “fish window”
Time was of the essence on this project as Chalet Road had been closed for several months and we needed to have the Dur-A-Span designed, approved, manufactured and delivered to get the road reopened as soon as possible and within the approaching “fish window” in order to reduce the risk of harm to the travelling native fish and their habitat.
Keeping the replacement bridge project on schedule
We agreed to do a plate layout and have that approved first. Then we got our IFA drawings approved and went forward with the plate manufacturing. We kept close tabs on the manufacturing and our logistics team had the plates picked up as soon as they were ready.
To save more time, the lightweight arch was assembled next to the site while the foundation was being prepared and the assembled arch was then lifted into place with an excavator. The customer was very happy with speed of installation and the outcome.
