Industrial History: Pathway, Peace and Fox Hollow Pedestrian Bridges in Calgary, AB

Pathway: (Satellite) over Bow River

Peace: (Satellite, 9,837 photos) over Bow River

Eric Harvie: (Satellite, 134 photos) over Bow River

Fox Hollow: (Satellite) over Deerfoot Trail (an expressway)

While looking for the "Pathway" bridge in this post, I noticed that this town has a lot of pedestrian bridges over the Bow River! The Peace Bridge struck me as extra special.

Tanweer Malik posted three photos with the comment: "An interesting and good-looking double-deck bridge over Bow River in Calgary. The upper deck carries Light Rail Transit. The lower deck is for pedestrians. The lower deck passes through a large hole in each pier where it rests on bearings. But the lower deck is also supported by tension hangers connected to the upper deck."

Kyle Ack: This is a very unique bridge, basically an upside down structural system. main structural component of the span is a hollow cast box girder that is at the same elevation as the trackbed and rests between the inbound and outbound tracks. This is unconventional and was done to reduce the overall elevation change as the trackbed crosses the river

Maybe this is unusual for concrete girder bridges, but it is very common for steel girder bridges.

Tanweer Malik commented on Kyle's comment
I found this online. The diagram explains the deck system.

Peace Bridge

Asset Reconnaissance International, Jul 2021

Tanweer Malik posted five photos with the comment: "Peace Bridge - a landmark pedestrian bridge over the Bow River in Calgary. A plaque for this bridge describes the steel structure as a "sculptural, mathematically derived form". Then it quotes the designer Santiago Calatrava about the geometry (last photo)."

Eric Harvie

Tanweer Malik posted four photos with the comment: "Eric Harvey Bridge over Bow River in Calgary, Canada."

1996 Fox Hollow

Street View, Jul 2023

It is a rod-stayed bridge, but I'm using the "bridgeCable" label for it.

Tanweer Malik posted four photos on Linkdin with the comment: "Fox Hollow Pedestrian Bridge over Deerfoot Trail in Calgary. The A-frame tower and the deck segments of this rod-stayed bridge are consisted of precast concrete segments. The following paper includes structural drawings and construction photos of this interesting bridge. Compared to the original construction, the rod stays of the present bridge have been stiffened with additional hold-downs and wires. This measure likely reduces the wind-induced vibration and fatigue of the rods. https://lnkd.in/ghT_jsmz"

pci
"The new $920,000 Fox Hollow Pedestrian Bridge (see Fig. 1) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a two-span symmetrical cable-stayed structure with a total length of 90 m (295 ft). The bridge stays are in a harp or parallel [harp] arrangement and are supported by a single A-frame tower at the median. The deck and tower components are all constructed using precast concrete....The two spans are each 45 m (147.6 ft) long, making an overall span of 90 m (295 ft)....The A-frame tower rises 30 m (98 ft) above the median."

Tanweer Malick posted five photos with the comment: "Fox Hollow Pedestrian Bridge over Deerfoot Trail in Calgary, Canada."