The Jack Tennant Memorial Bridge Opening Ceremony October 15th!

Cochrane’s new bridge is ready to welcome the community.

>> What: A small COVID-safe opening ceremony is scheduled for the evening of October 15, which will be followed by a fireworks show.

The bridge will open to traffic the next morning. The new Jack Tennant Memorial Bridge crosses the Bow River at the east end of Griffin Road and provides an alternate traffic route between the north and south sides of Cochrane.

“The Jack Tennant Memorial Bridge and connecting roadways deliver on Council’s commitment to take traffic off the highways and is one more step to alleviating traffic congestion in our community,” said Mayor Jeff Genung. “This $53 million bridge and roadway was delivered on time and on budget, funded from off-site vies and provincial MSI grants. Best of all, it honours a Cochranite who dedicated his life to building bridges between people and communities.”

The bridge name was chosen by the community to honour Jack Tennant, a long-time Cochrane resident, who was also the founder and publisher of the Cochrane Eagle newspaper and honourary member of the Stoney Nakoda nation. Tennant died in 2018.

Construction started in August 2018. The finished bridge includes two traffic lanes and a separated, 3 metre-wide multi-use pathway. There’s also a large lookout area above the eastern pier for cyclists and pedestrians to safely enjoy the view of the river.

In addition to fireworks, the official opening will be followed by two days of celebratory light shows, visible from both sides of the bridge and the multi-use pathway below it.

The countdown to the official opening starts Monday October 12 with special under-deck lighting.

This second river crossing is part of Town Council’s priority to improve connectivity in the Town of Cochrane and between neighbourhoods: it is part of a bigger project that will eventually include an extension of James Walker Trail from Riviera Way through to Highway 22. For now, traffic is routed along River Heights Drive to Highway 22.

The location for the bridge was chosen in 2002 and is based on community growth and connectivity, river shape, grade and topography variances and alignment with Griffin Road.

More details: cochrane.ca/Bridge

Light Up the Bridge sponsors: Urban Systems, RJC Engineers, Lafarge, PCL Construction
Fireworks sponsor: Community of Greystone
With support from: Orange Frog Productions Inc.

COOL FACTS >>>

Bridge details:
– three spans, about 160m in total length
– two 3.5m-wide traffic lanes with a 1.5m-wide bike lane on each side
– 3m-wide regional pathway on the south side of the bridge separated from traffic by a solid concrete barrier
– the deck is about 14m above the normal water level
– the deck is inclined up from the SLS side toward the east at 3%

Construction materials:
– total mass of the steel plate girders: about 500,000kg
– total mass of rebar: about 250,000kg
– total volume of concrete: about 1,750 cubic meters
– about 140 separate activities were tracked in the schedule