Bridges, Pedestrian Bridges, Railway Bridges, Road Bridges

Port Lands Bridges

© Waterfront Toronto / Vid Ingelevics / Ryan Walker

As the winners of an international design competition along with Entuitive and Grimshaw, sbp has designed four bridges to serve as connections to the new Port Lands development. The bridges are a key infrastructure component of this large-scale revitalization of Toronto’s waterfront. Formerly an industrial site, the Port Lands project provides the city with new mixed-use programming and green space for recreation, while also implementing design solutions that provide flood protection and climate resilience.
An aesthetically unified family of three bridge types provides the Port Lands neighborhood with light rail, vehicular, cycle and pedestrian connections, creating a critical link to downtown Toronto. Designed as hybrid shell-arch bridge structures, they are essentially curved tied arches with a planar deck connected by hangers. Constructing the double-curvature of the steel shell was not a standard manufacturing request. Instead, the design team relied on the innovative implementation of shipbuilding manufacturing processes to fabricate the thin shell plates, varying the thickness over the area of the dome to use less material in areas with less demand. The arch/shell structure uses mainly compression and tension to carry loads and minimize bending. These innovative fabrication techniques combined with state-of-the-art engineering allowed for maximized material efficiency and reduction of costs. The bridges have become emblematic of Toronto’s evolution, with unique and compelling structural forms.

Location
Toronto, Canada
Architect
Grimshaw Architects, New York
Cooperation
Entuitive, Toronto; Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, New York
Owner
Waterfront Toronto
Project Responsibility
Michael Stein

Insights

Technical Data

Cherry Street North
Total length and main span 180 ft (55 m)
Width road bridge 67 ft (20 m)
Width LRT bridge 45 ft (14 m)
Cherry Street South
Total length 360 ft (110 m)
Main span 230 ft (70 m) / width 64 ft (20 m)
Commissioners Street
Total length 500 ft (153 m)
Main span 180 ft (55 m) / width 64 ft (20 m)
Superstructure height
33 ft (10 m)

Lectures

Awards

Ingenieurpreis des Deutschen Stahlbaus 2024
Recognition: Port Lands Bridges, Toronto, Kanada

Location

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