An extensive public consultation process lead to Provencher Paired Bridges solution consisting of both vehicular and pedestrian bridge structures, to replace the existing Provencher Vehicular Bridge which had reached the end of its service life. Significant additional funding was secured to achieve this very attractive but more expensive solution to generally satisfy the requirements of the public, the Project Advisory Committee, and the City of Winnipeg—who were, together, the prime stakeholders for this project. The new Provencher Pedestrian Bridge is a two-span, 200-m-long, 5-m-wide cable-stayed bridge that spans the Red River in the heart of downtown Winnipeg immediately north of The Forks, where the Red and Assinboine Rivers meet. The signature feature of the bridge is its transversely inclined pylon developed to provide a continuous walkway and to help balance the dead load forces. A 370-m 2 (400 ft2 ) centre plaza is also supported off the pylon and provides additional dead load used to balance out some of the forces in the pylon due to its incline. Two pylon balance stays were also used to further reduce the unbalanced moments in the pylon. Aesthetics, personal safety, and lighting have been given high priority for this unique structure. One major innovative focus is the structural health monitoring (SHM) which has been incorporated in the design throughout the pedestrian bridge structure, in association with ISIS Canada. The design of the SHM system required the collaboration of a diverse group of engineers and provided a unique opportunity for engineering students at the University of Manitoba to participate in this state-of-theart project. The performance of the cable-stayed bridge can be continuously monitored and evaluated using an interactive, remotely-monitored Data Acquisition System. The system incorporates fibre-optic sensors, conventional electric strain gauges, thermocouples 1-D and 3-D accelerometers, wind monitor, and inclinometers to measure strains, natural frequencies, temperatures, wind speed, etc. Looking to the future, this continuous monitoring of the bridge will help to optimize maintenance costs and minimize capital costs, resulting in savings to owners and ultimately the taxpayers.
