Alexandra Bridge replacement | Planning Stage

[SweazyCavalry]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

NCC chooses new Alexandra Bridge design
Winner 'Motion' meant to evoke flow of Ottawa River and its eels

CBC News
Posted: Jan 23, 2025 7:35 AM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

It should have been Echo. Clearly the more popular choice.

[urbanforest]

I came here to say that same thing. Echo would have been an attractive modern adaptation of the iconic Alexandra Bridge. Instead they’re choosing to copy and paste the bridge at Earl Armstrong. Ugh.

[cr872190]

Nice Motion was my favourite one. I didn't like Echo because it felt too close to the current design.

[FutureWickedCity]

This is horrible

[pattherat]

Originally Posted by SweazyCavalry

It should have been Echo. Clearly the more popular choice.

I like this one and Echo. But I have to ask, how do you know Echo was clearly the more popular choice? Or do you mean here in this forum?

I ask because I don’t believe any of us know the results of the public input.

Also: the final design is due in 2028?!?! Soooooooo ambitious…. /s if not clear

[rocketphish]

New Alexandra Bridge design chosen by NCC
The replacement for the 1901 bridge has been chosen to reconnect Ottawa and Gatineau once the old bridge is demolished in the coming years.

Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen
Published Jan 23, 2025 • Last updated 29 minutes ago • 2 minute read

Motion, a graceful triple-arched bridge inspired by the flow of the Ottawa River and the endangered American eel, has been chosen as the design to replace the aging 124-year-old Alexandra Bridge.

The National Capital Commission unveiled the design at its Jan. 23 board meeting, following months of study and public consultation. Motion is one of three designs shortlisted for the new bridge, the construction of which is set to begin in 2028.

The others were Echo, a modernized take that preserved the distinctive outline of the existing bridge, and Rendez vous, which had two spans of 290 metres and 220 metres suported by a single pier in the river closer to the Quebec side. Rendez vous has two arches, compared to the triple arch of Motion, and would be 15 metres taller than the existing towers on the Alexandra Bridge.

The NCC used seven objectives to evaluate the designs:

• Bridge expression
• Integration into the capital and natural landscape
• Public space and user experience
• Views and visual experience
• Sustainability and the environment
• Construction cost and schedule
• Operation and maintenance

All three designs scored well and exceeded the minimum threshold, but Motion placed first when scores were averaged, said Bruno Fabien, director of engineering assets for the NCC. Motion scored particularly well in the amount of public space it will provide and for its visual experience, he said.

The design gives “a balance between transparency and mass to highlight symbols of the natural landscape” while providing “captivating and enhanced” views from both upstream and downstream, he said.

Motion also has the lowest slopes on its approaches.

“In terms of user experience, Motion stands out from the other concepts,” Fabien said.

Motion incorporates a pedestrian walkway with viewing areas on the west, upstream side of the bridge, while two lanes of traffic and a separate space for bicycles would be contained within the width of the archways.

Echo most closely matched the look of the Alexandra Bridge’s distinctive profile, but “the opacity of the structure and irregularity of the design across the span introduced some complexities that could influence the experience of users.” he said.

Rendez vous had the least environmental impact because of its single pier, but is significantly taller and had more impact on the city skyline. It also scored lower than Motion on how well it reflected the natural landscape, he said.

All three designs would cost about the same to build.

The replacement is a joint project of the NCC and Public Services and Procurement Canada. Built in 1901 as a truss-style railway bridge, the Alexandra Bridge carried about nine per cent of the vehicle traffic between Ottawa and Gatineau and 33 per cent of bicycle and active use travel. Despite numerous upgrades, years of road salt use have corroded the structure to a point it can no longer be repaired.

A complete design of the new bridge is expected to come back to the NCC board for approval in late 2025.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/new-alexandra-bridge-design

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by urbanforest

I came here to say that same thing. Echo would have been an attractive modern adaptation of the iconic Alexandra Bridge. Instead they’re choosing to copy and paste the bridge at Earl Armstrong. Ugh.

That would have been my vote as well.

[c_speed3108]

I liked the one with the taller arch - why?



The chosen one is functional but fairly boring.

This bridge is literally the center of the National capital region. Known for being boring.



I would like a taller bridge and then to see them turn it into more of a tourist attraction and landmark.

Something modeled after: Bridge Climb in Sydney https://www.bridgeclimb.com/

or

Or the Auckland bridge climb in New Zealand
https://www.newzealand.com/ca/plan/business/aj-hackett-bridge-climb-and-bungy/

or

Bridge Walk in West Virginia. (That one is below the bridge, where above would be more suited to our landscape.)

https://bridgewalk.com/bridge-walk-tour/

The top of the arch would provide one of the greatest views of Ottawa that has ever existed. It would add a new thrill seeking tourist attraction that would add to Great Canadian Bungee, the zipline(s), the rafting tours on the river.


We need to add activities and attractions to Ottawa. Tourists go on stuff like that. It makes money.

[harls]

Was this the cheapest option?

edit - nvm.. they said they were all similar cost.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by pattherat

I like this one and Echo. But I have to ask, how do you know Echo was clearly the more popular choice? Or do you mean here in this forum?

I ask because I don’t believe any of us know the results of the public input.

Also: the final design is due in 2028?!?! Soooooooo ambitious…. /s if not clear

They are really moving slowly on this. How long does the bike and pedestrian access remain? It's a key route for active transport even if minor for vehicles.

A cheap pedestrian option would be tricky to navigate but a cable car or surface level crossing and put the remainder into another crossing, or better yet put it into a rapid transit connection.

[DTcrawler]

Rendez-Vous, with it’s taller arches, would’ve been my choice too. Of course it never stood a chance when one of the criteria was literally how much of a visual impact the design has on its surroundings. I hate that way of thinking. As another user said, we should be embracing prominent landmarks to enhance the capital experience for residents and tourists alike. Not everything has to “blend in”.

Edit: also just realized Rendez-Vous had the widest deck of all the proposals. Surely maximizing the amount of space on the bridge wouldn’t have been a bad thing.

[OTownandDown]

I think the selection is a good one.

1. This typology of asymmetrical/skew arch is among the trendiest today. (see: Brasilia, LA's 6th Street Viaduct, Teeside Infinity Bridge, Bangladeshi examples Hatirjeel 2nd and 3rd and etc.)

2. I like the viewing platform locations. Having nothing above you while being so high from the water is going to leave a big impression of being suspended in space above the river.

3. This is practical (although...where's that deep-water pier? There's a super deep section right at the Ottawa cliffside, right? We're going to avoid that, right?)

4. Lower arches panders to the NCC not blocking viewplanes mentality vs. the other bigger arch bridge.

5. I don't think Echo actually really echoed the old bridge at all, but that's just my opinion. Functionally it was a bit wasteful in structural materials, leading to additional carbon footprint for construction, I think.

[ponyboycurtis]

My biggest takeaway from the article.

"Final approval in 2028

But the design of the bridge is only 15 per cent complete. A final design will return to the NCC board for approval in 2028. NCC CEO Tobi Nussbaum said there will be a chance to incorporate public feedback to improve the motion design."

I'm not even sure what that is supposed to mean.

[DTcrawler]

I'm feeling particularly pessimistic today but my guess is that the three(!!) year design process is to allow for all kinds of stakeholders, who wear red or clear-framed glasses, to hum and haw about design symbolism that nobody will ever notice. Kind of like how nobody looks at the winning design and thinks of an eel. All the while, costs are going to continue to increase and in 2028 (or in 2030 after a couple of deadline extensions) we'll get a revised design that "factors in rising costs" only to get a M-C Bridge 2.0 built by 2040.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by DTcrawler

I'm feeling particularly pessimistic today but my guess is that the three(!!) year design process is to allow for all kinds of stakeholders, who wear red or clear-framed glasses, to hum and haw about design symbolism that nobody will ever notice. Kind of like how nobody looks at the winning design and thinks of an eel. All the while, costs are going to continue to increase and in 2028 (or in 2030 after a couple of deadline extensions) we'll get a revised design that "factors in rising costs" only to get a M-C Bridge 2.0 built by 2040.

Is this normal NCC slow-walking or is there some secret plan here? Nussbaum seems very astute and to have a clear agenda so I sense there is some other plan. Perhaps delaying to a time when he can win a no car fight for example.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Is this normal NCC slow-walking or is there some secret plan here? Nussbaum seems very astute and to have a clear agenda so I sense there is some other plan. Perhaps delaying to a time when he can win a no car fight for example.

You think he is going to win a no car fight with PP?

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by ponyboycurtis

My biggest takeaway from the article.

"Final approval in 2028

But the design of the bridge is only 15 per cent complete. A final design will return to the NCC board for approval in 2028. NCC CEO Tobi Nussbaum said there will be a chance to incorporate public feedback to improve the motion design."

I'm not even sure what that is supposed to mean.

It's government speak which I'm increasingly coming to the conclusion that if it is in written form it has been put through an AI review to ensure that they say something but nothing too definitive or controversial.

I put in writing recently a long email to a City Manager my thoughts on the increasing city fees with basically no timeline or efficiency improvements. After a few emails, I finally got this as a response:

I agree that the fees are not inconsequential

Who speaks like that? Trying to decipher government word salad could be marketed as a course by consultants trying to make some money on the side.

[FutureWickedCity]

Hey NCC, show us the results of the opinion polls you conducted. Or was that all just to manufacture the illusion of public consultation?

[J.OT13]

Very disappointed. This was my least favourite design due to the resemblance to the suburban Vimy Bridge. Bad enough we're losing the old Alexandra, but we're getting the blandest option as replacement.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Is this normal NCC slow-walking or is there some secret plan here? Nussbaum seems very astute and to have a clear agenda so I sense there is some other plan. Perhaps delaying to a time when he can win a no car fight for example.

When, within his time horizon as NCC head honcho, would this magical car-free time occur?