Join the ITE Manitoba Section for their Luncheon on Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at Bill and Helen Norrie Library!

Mike Boissonneault from Tetra Tech Canada Inc. will deliver a presentation on the challenges related to the removal of the Arlington Street Bridge.

Event Details

Date:    Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Time:   12:00pm to 1:30 pm CST
Location: Bill and Helen Norrie Library, 15 Poseidon Bay, Winnipeg, MB R3M 3E4

Cost:

• $22 for ITE members
• $27 for non-ITE members
• $15 for students

**Registration will close on Friday, October 23, at 3 pm.**

Please note, to register for the reduced ITE member rate, your ITE membership should be valid for 2026.

Food: Food from Friend Bakery and Pizzeria will be provided. Please let us know you have any dietary restrictions.

Presentation Details

Title: Arlington Bridge Removal

Speaker: Mike Boissonneault, P.Eng., Senior Project Manager

The Arlington Street Bridge which spans the CPKC Yard, opened on February 5, 1912, and is a Winnipeg treasure.  Rumored to be for the Blue Nile in Egypt, purchased for a discount by the Metropolitan of Winnipeg, this North End transportation link has a rich history, including plans for street cars, frequent structural issues, and often featured in Hollywood or Netflix movies.

The City learned about structural issues reported in the 1930s not long after the bridge opened. Funds were put in place for repair works in 1943, only to see the bridge closed again for repairs in 1946.  Additional repairs were required in 1947 and 1948. In 1952, the bridge was closed for six weeks for repairs.  A decade later the bridge was closed for a month for substantial repairs.  In 1967, the City deemed the bridge was in its final phase of life.  Later, in 1968, the bridge was load-restricted to 9.1 tonnes.  Fast forwarding, the Arlington Street Bridge is in very poor condition and was closed indefinitely on November 21, 2023.

In summer of 2026, the southern half of the 37-span bridge was removed.   Lifting spans and moving them out of the Yard via Self Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs) was how five truss spans were removed.  The presentation will illustrate how the south half of the bridge was removed and the challenges working within CPKC Yard.