Inspection of bridge girders in the fabrication plant is a requirement of Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridor’s (ATEC) Specifications for Bridge Construction, section 7, Precast Concrete Units. According to this standard, fabricators are required to be certified by the Canadian Precast Concrete Quality Assurance, (CPCQA) certification program. This limits the production of bridge girders in Alberta to the following producers, at the time of this writing: Lafarge Precast (Edmonton) Eagle Builders (Red Deer) Knelsen Sand & Gravel (Calgary) ATEC requires that plant inspectors of b ..read more

Highway guardrail serves an important purpose in the safety of vehicular and pedestrian users alike. Although it may seem like a mundane part of the system, the design of highway guardrail is just as scientific and engineered to exacting standards as the rest of the highway. This article will summarize the design process for highway barriers as per the Alberta Transportation Roadside Design Guide. The specific requirements in Cities may differ. Clear Zone Each highway has a “clear zone” within which hazards cannot be present. This is defined as the width of adjacent border area specifically a ..read more

A bridge is a great way to showcase your facility or business. Whether you need the simplest possible structure to cross your stream or roadway, or want to provide something your customers or clients will notice, there is a pedestrian bridge out there that’s right for you. But the options can be dizzying.  Pedestrian bridges don’t just come in all shapes and sizes, they come in steel, wood, or composite material. They can have wood, concrete, or asphalt decks. Their design loading is very site specific and heavily influences their cost, whether for pedestrians only, small vehicles or high ..read more

Culverts are highly efficient structures that move water and people underneath a road.  However, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all culvert type that meets all design considerations. To that end, let’s explore the different types of culverts that can be considered for a site: Corrugated Steel Pipe (CSP) Structural Plate CSP Open bottom CSP Concrete Pipe Concrete Boxes – Precast Concrete Boxes – Cast in Place Polymer (plastic) Pipe Corrugated Steel Pipe This is almost always the cheapest type of culvert. They consist of sheet metal rolled into corrugated pieces and fastened together through ..read more

Alberta Transportation’s Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program, or STIP for short, started in 2017 and combined several funding sources into one.  There are four components: Community Airport Program ($2 million) Local Road Bridge Program ($16 million) Resource Road Program ($6.5 million) Local Municipal Initiatives ($5 million) In this article we investigate the projects that have been approved for funding within the last year of the program (2018) to determine what the most important funding criteria has been and if there is any patterns that can assist with future STIP fund ..read more