Canada's longest pedestrian suspension bridge stretches 184 metres across the Souris River.
It's been an exciting design challenge, but more importantly we know how much this bridge means to the community of Souris, and we’re proud to have played a role in giving this iconic structure back to them
Souris, MB (PRWEB) August 17, 2013
The Town of Souris, MB. is once again the home to Canada’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge.
The 184-metre Souris Swinging Bridge is opening to the public Saturday, Aug. 17 at noon.
“We’re excited to see the Swinging Bridge re-open, but please keep in mind there may be times when one end of the bridge or the other will not be accessible until the landscaping is complete,” says Souris Mayor Darryl Jackson. “The official opening will take place at a later date so watch for updates on the Souris website http://www.sourismanitoba.com and Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/townofsouris. ”
After the previous bridge fell victim to flood waters in 2011, The Town of Souris partnered with Stantec to develop options to replace the iconic swinging bridge.
Stantec began with engineering analysis of the Souris River and its banks. Then they looked to similar pedestrian bridges in Canada and around the world for inspiration and ideas, generating a number of replacement options. Due to the historic and iconic nature of the Swinging Bridge, the Town decided early on that a suspension bridge, similar to the one destroyed in the flood, was the most desirable of the replacement options.
Stantec designed the bridge to not only be high enough for annual flood waters recorded to date to not reach the superstructure, but also to put Souris back on the map with Canada’s longest suspension pedestrian bridge.
“This has been such a gratifying project for our team,” says Stantec’s project manager Kevin Amy. “It's been an exciting design challenge, but more importantly we know how much this bridge means to the community of Souris, and we’re proud to have played a role in giving this iconic structure back to them.”
The swinging bridges that have spanned this site have all been Souris’ principal attraction. The first of three bridges were built in 1904 by the late Squire Sowden as a means of transportation across the river. Replaced twice previously, in 1961 and 1976, the historic bridge once again was destroyed during the spring 2011 flooding in Manitoba. Because the rising Souris River was submerging the bridge, the Town of Souris sacrificed it in 2011 to alleviate the load the water was putting on the anchors located in the earth dyke.
Stantec Winnipeg office led the project, with structural engineering support from their Calgary office. Hilderman Thomas Frank Cram of Winnipeg is providing assistance with the site work.
About Souris
Souris is a vibrant beautiful community nestled at the junction of Plum Creek and the Souris River. It is surrounded on all sides by the productive farmland of the Rural Municipality of Glenwood. Souris is a service centre for this farming population as well as its own townspeople. The town is noted as being a Communities in Bloom National winner, a great sports town with recreational facilities to rival any community's in Manitoba and a wonderful safe place to raise a family.
About Stantec
Stantec provides professional consulting services in planning, engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics for infrastructure and facilities projects. We support public and private sector clients in a diverse range of markets at every stage, from the initial conceptualization and financial feasibility study to project completion and beyond. Our services are provided on projects around the world through approximately 13,000 employees operating out of more than 200 locations in North America and 4 locations internationally.