Jaipur Bridge

Project Overview

The Jaipur Bridge project involved the removal of the aging Jaipur Bridge and its replacement with a 6-meter-wide, 60-meter-long pedestrian bridge connecting Calgary Downtown to Prince’s Island over a lagoon, which is part of the Bow River. The construction required isolating the lagoon and building a temporary berm to facilitate demolition and construction within the Bow River Lagoon. This bridge is integral to Calgary’s flood resiliency plan, designed to withstand a 1:100-year flood. The bridge structure includes drilled piles, steel piers, steel tub girders, and a cast-in-place deck. As a gateway bridge to the island, it features numerous architectural details, including a Matacryl wear surface in a wave pattern on the deck, stainless steel railings with wood benches, laser-cut flowers backlit to create patterns on the deck, and formliner for an architectural finish on the underside of the concrete deck. The project also included pathway connections, electrical and ITS installations, and habitat restoration in the adjacent park space, including planting beds, native bee habitats, and naturalized riparian areas.

Environmental Management

Graham designed a berm and pipeline bypass system to manage flood surge flow from the Bow River and City storm outfalls discharging into the lagoon. Hourly turbidity monitoring was conducted during active work to ensure compliance with turbidity requirements at the downstream outlet. This data supported a transition to passive monitoring using a camera system and plume monitoring during rainfall events. All Water Act requirements, including decontamination procedures for Whirling disease, were followed, and environmentally friendly oils were used in all equipment that entered the water body. Graham also accelerated fish salvage efforts by isolating areas and operating pumps to reduce water levels, creating a smaller working space for salvage operations.

Project Completion

The bridge was opened to the public three weeks ahead of schedule.