Highway 3 Bridge Replacements at Big Sand Creek & Jaffray Overhead
Planning Study: 2020-2021; Design: 2021-2023; Construction: 2023-2024 | Jaffray, British Columbia
This project replaces the aging Jaffray Overhead and Big Sand Creek bridges at the end of their service life and realigns Highway 3 between the two crossings to improve safety along a key corridor connecting British Columbia to Alberta and the United States. By moving most construction, including the new bridges, offline from the existing highway, the preferred alignment improved safety while reducing impacts to heavy seasonal traffic volumes.
McElhanney completed planning and design services from the initial planning study through construction, developing and evaluating five highway alignments based on traffic management and staging, property impacts, safety, bridge impacts, and material balance. The team also developed three concept designs for each bridge crossing and evaluated span configurations and materials through a multiple-account evaluation that considered environmental impacts, construction cost, constructability risk, traffic impacts, hydrotechnical impacts, and maintenance and life-cycle costs. An archaeological overview assessment and environmental impact assessment further informed the design, including considerations for fish, wildlife habitat, migration, and wildlife pathways.
McElhanney provided:
- Planning and preliminary design
- Functional highway design and conceptual bridge design
- Detailed highway and bridge design
- Preliminary and detailed hydrotechnical design
- Geotechnical investigation and detailed design
- Rail and Navigable Waters coordination
- Support and participation in stakeholder engagement
- Utility relocation coordination
- Engineering services during tender and construction
