A Bridge on the River Tay

This view is from the balcony of Mexicali Rosas overlooking the Canal. In the distance the town is planning on constructing a pedestrian bridge connecting the library complex on the left to the Tay Basin area on the right.

On September 8, 2004 the area around the Tay Basin was filled with soldiers in full camouflage outfits, rifles and a collection of trucks and armoured vehicles from the 2 Combat Engineer Regiment from CFB Petawawa. Their job that day was {as a training exercise - part of the Bridge Gallop Exercise} to build a temporary bridge connecting the Tay Basin area to the Library complex on the other side of the canal. The process was extremely interesting in that the entire bridge was built from pieces that could be carried by one or more men. The bridge had to be built from one side only and extended across the canal. The best view in town was to be had on the Mexicali Rosas patio {with appropriate cold beverages for a very hot day}.

The basic method involves building a "launching platform" upon which the bridge structure can be constructed and rolled out across the canal. You will see in the photo sequence below that the leading edge of the bridge has a long extension arm that is used ultimately to arrange the height of the far end of the bridge once extended across the canal. There is a package strapped to that extender arm which later is used to construct a roller device. You will see on the first pass the bridge is across the canal but too low. They pull the bridge back, then construct the roller device at the far end. When they roll the bridge forward a second time, the extender arm then rests on the roller, keeping the entire bridge at the correct height. Very Neat!

The following photograph sequence shows the bridge under construction, from the cutting of the guard posts, through to having a bridge capable of driving large vehicles across. Note that if you leave your cursor on the photos, you will see a brief description in the status line at the bottom of the browser screen.

Ultimately the town will construct a permanent pedestrian bridge on this site, as part of the Tay Basin Renewal.