All three pedestrian bridges are now open

All three pedestrian bridges along the Elbow River destroyed in the June 2013 flood are now open for use.

Councillors Evan Woolley & Gian-Carlo Carra with Grade 4 students
from Rideau Park School at Rideau Park Bridge re-opening

Just 18 months after the flood, Mayor Naheed Nenshi was joined by hundreds of residents to cut the ribbon and officially open the Sandy Beach Bridge November 23. Councillors Evan Woolley and Gian-Carlo Carra cut the ribbon at the Rideau Park Bridge with a Grade 4 class from Rideau Park School on hand November 28 and the Riverdale Avenue Bridge opened at noon the same day.

“When we met with the communities after the flood to talk about replacing these bridges, they told us that these bridges were a vital link in their communities and that they really missed them,” says Project Manager Charmaine Buhler. “We are very proud to have restored these vital community links and we hope everyone enjoys using them again.”

Residents and commuters will be able to use the bridges for a very long time, adds Buhler.

“In addition to being designed to withstand future flooding, they are also built to last for 100 years," she explains.

Sandy Beach Bridge re-opening

Landscaping will be completed in the spring at all three bridges. Permanent panels commemorating the old bridges will also be completed in the spring and will be installed where temporary panels are currently located at the bridge entrances.

To view time lapse sequences of the major components of the re-building process, such as the installation of the towers, suspension cables, and bridge decks, and for other project information, please visit www.calgary.ca/elbowbridges.

The completion of the bridges marks an important milestone in The City's ongoing flood recovery efforts. There are 223 projects on the Municipal Infrastructure Recovery Program list. Of those projects, 99 are reported to be either complete or substantially complete (44 per cent). Another 83 projects (37 per cent) have design work underway or are under construction. A total of 38 projects (17 per cent) are in early planning stages and only three projects (two per cent) have not yet started. These either require further investigation or are scheduled for a later start date.

For a complete list of projects and an interactive map of project locations and status, please visit www.calgary.ca/floodrecovery.