Quote:
Originally Posted by acottawa
I don't think I would assume retrofitting old infrastructure is cheaper than building new infrastructure, particularly when changing the purpose.
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The most difficult thing about this type of bridge is the piers, especially with regards to environmental assessment because of their impact on the river. In the case of the PoW bridge, they already exist.
I think the comparable here was the widening of the Champlain Bridge which is similar in length if not longer. In the late 1990s the NCC replaced the steel girders with concrete spans and a deck twice as wide as the old one, using the same piers with some modifications. The cost was around $30 million then. I could see the same thing being done to the PoW, doing a 2-lane bus bridge + peds/bikes, which would be made suitable for LRT in the future but not necessarily heavy rail.
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