James MacDonald Bridge
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - James MacDonald Bridge
OR:
James MacDonald Bridge on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

The James MacDonald Bridge is a bridge that spans the
North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows eventual ...
in
Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Construction of the bridge began in the early 1960s and was completed in October 1971. The bridge was named after city engineer James MacDonald. This span was designed to carry the 5 westbound collector lanes of the south leg of the "downtown freeway loop", as conceived under the "METS" design study. This explains the "overbuilt" appearance of the still existing interchange system on the east side of the North Saskatchewan River and the truncated appearance of the ramps at the east end of the bridge. Most of these ramp alignments were sited as temporary connectors under the phased construction planning, yet continue to serve in their original state. If this project had proceeded through to its ultimate stage, three additional spans would have been erected at this location, all south of the existing one. Upon completion, the entire area at the east end of this bridge would have been occupied by a massive three level cloverstack interchange serving the south and east legs of the downtown loop, the planned 98 ave 6 lane arterial (indicated as "future freeway" on the ultimate stage drawing), and the southeast (Mill Creek) freeway. The Mill Creek Freeway was to run south following the current 91 Street alignment, ultimately joining Highway 2 in the vicinity of Nisku. The reference provided shows the entire conceptual design for this project. The current tunnel carrying 97 Avenue underground to 109 St. is another part of this large project. The bridge connects the communities of Cloverdale on the east end to Rossdale on the west end.


See also

*
List of crossings of the North Saskatchewan River This is a list of crossings of the North Saskatchewan River in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta from the river's confluence with the South Saskatchewan River upstream to its source. Tables Saskatchewan Alberta No ...
*
List of bridges in Canada This is a list of bridges and viaducts in Canada, including those for pedestrians and vehicular traffic. Historical and architectural interest bridges There are only a few covered bridges left in Canada compared to all those that were built in t ...


References


External links

* MacDonald Road bridges in Alberta Bridges completed in 1971 1971 establishments in Alberta {{Canada-bridge-struct-stub