This project solicited improvement to one of the bridges in the great Toronto area. Our group chose the Amsterdam bridge located at the Harbourfront. Our approach to this project was to first observe the bridge closely and take the plenty of images of the current situation of the bridge. For the next step we looked at the design specifications included in Toronto Accessibility Guidelines. Recognizing the current flaws in the bridge, we looked at the materials that meet the standards and improve the safety and quality of the bridge with the lowest cost possible.
 

In the current design, the space between each wooden plank would allow the water to go down and rust the metal underneath the bridge. Furthermore, water can fill up the deck of the bridge making it more slippery and less safe for pedestrians to cross. Our solution was to use a non-slippery, cheap synthetic rubber to cover the deck of the bridge. This mainly has two advantages:

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- First, it blocks the space between wooden cross planks hindering water from escaping down the bridge .This would significantly increase the maintenance of the bridge as the water would not rust the bridge posts and does not decrease the overall strength of the bridge.
 

- Second, the rubber will be laid on the bridge in a way that the left half of the deck will be slightly tilted toward left side of the deck and the right half would slightly tilted toward right side of the deck. This allows water to be collected on the side of the deck and does not fill up the surface of the deck in case of snow melting in winter or raining in Fall. The run-offs on each side of the deck would drive the water towards both ends of the bridge. At both ends of the bridge, there will be pipes made of cheap and stiff polypropylene which will navigate the water to the lake at the bottom of the bridge.

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Attachments

•  Bridge Improvemet Presentation

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