Jack Tennant Memorial Bridge

The Jack Tennant Memorial Bridge officially opened October 15, 2020. The new bridge and the arterial road connections includes on-street bike lanes and a separated, parallel 3 metre-wide multi-use pathway. 

The extension of James Walker Trail from Riviera Way through to Highway 22 will be constructed later, depending on the timing of the South Bow development.

About Jack Tennant

Council voted April 8, 2019 to approve Jack Tennant Memorial Bridge as the name of Cochrane’s new bridge.

Jack Tennant was one of Cochrane’s most involved residents who dedicated his life to building bridges between people and communities. He was the founder and publisher of the Cochrane Eagle, a photojournalist, columnist, involved AA community member, committed philanthropist and honourary member of the Stoney Nakoda nation. Tennant died in 2018.

Construction info


Description
Griffin - Bridge - JWT Phases 1-3

The Jack Tennant Memorial Bridge opened on schedule Oct 15, 2020. This second crossing over the Bow River is a critical priority for the Town of Cochrane and Town Council and is part of a bigger project to connect the north and south sides of Cochrane.

  • Phase one: reconstruction of Griffin Rd from Griffin Industrial Pt to Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre (SLSFSC). Completed in 2018.
  • Phase two: connection from SLSFSC to the new bridge to River Heights Dr, including roundabout connections to future developments. On time to be completed fall 2020.
  • Phase three: extension of James Walker Trail from River Heights Dr to Southbow, in conjunction with the Southbow Landing development. To be scheduled
Bridge and south road alignment Opens in new window






Click for larger image.

This map shows the general location of the new bridge and alignment of the proposed James Walker Trail corridor (alignment will be finalized as part of the ongoing detailed design).

The bridge is being designed as a three-span bridge with a single pier in the river, and the second pier adjacent to the river. The outer spans will be about 51m (165 ft) each with the central span being about 58m (190 ft). The piers have been designed with two columns to improve visibility for users beneath the bridge and the overall bridge aesthetics.

Video rendering 
James Walker Rendering Looking NE Final Opens in new windowClick for larger image.Conceptual rendering of the bridge at its actual location and design elevation.
BridgeIllustrations-01 Opens in new windowClick for larger image.

Conceptual illustration of the bridge design. In addition to two traffic lanes, the bridge includes bike lanes and a separated, 3 metre-wide multi-use pathway. A large lookout area above the eastern pier can be used to by cyclists and pedestrians to enjoy the view of the river. 

Information Update thumbnail Opens in new windowClick for larger image.The south side of the Bow River is experiencing significant changes: stripping and grading for Precedence (new community), the start of bridge construction, the relocation of gravel pit operations and preparation for the new gravel extraction area.
Bridge details: 
  • three spans, about 160m in total length
  • the deck is about 14m above the normal water level in the river at its highest point
  • the deck is inclined up from the arena side toward the east at 3%
  • 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 the traffic by a solid concrete barrier
Major construction materials:
  • total mass of the steel plate girders =  about 500,000 kg
  • total mass of rebar = about 250,000 kg
  • total volume of concrete = about 1,750 cubic meters

Contact us

Contact form
403-851-2590

Construction photo gallery

Group-groundbreaking July 9, 2018

Groundbreaking July 9, 2018

(l-r): Coun. McFadden, Bearspaw elder Irene Baptiste of Stoney Nakoda First Nation, Coun Nagel, Banff-Cochrane MLA Westhead, Coun Reed, Mayor Genung, Coun Wilson, Tsuut’ina spiritual spiritual leader Hal Eagletail, Coun Fedeyko, Coun Flowers.

See the full photo gallery

Aug 24, 2018

Aug 24, 2018

Start of construction of the in-river berm that will be used as a construction platform for the east pier of the bridge.

Sep 5, 2018

Sep 5, 2018

Construction of the temporary berm is complete (approx. 9500 m3 of cobbles). The berm will be used as a construction platform for the bridge piers and will be completely removed in summer of 2019 so the gravel beach can be reestablished.

Oct 1-18

Oct 1, 2018

Things are getting busy at the bridge with the start of construction of the in-river pier foundations. The foundations for each pier consist of eight drilled-shaft, cast-in-place concrete piles that are about 1.2m (4ft) in diameter and up to 13m (43ft) long. The cut for the east abutment on the far side of the river is also advancing with a further 4 m of cut to go.

First concrete Oct 3-18

Oct 3, 2018

The first concrete for Cochrane's new bridge was poured on October 3, 2018 at 2:30pm.

October 11, 2018

Oct 11, 2018

This photo shows how the new Griffin Road realignment project connects to the bridge and new James Walker Trail across the river.
Credit: Bill Marsh Photography


Oct 26 3D render

Oct 26, 2018

This image is from a 3D model of the bridge construction site generated with drone-based orthographic photogrammetry. The Town and their construction partner, PCL Construction, are using PCL’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) program to survey the James Walker Trail and Bow River Bridge project to track earthworks cut and fill volumes. The UAV survey achieves accuracies of +/- 1cm, which is comparable to traditional ground surveys but completed in a fraction of the time. PCL uses a Matrice 210 UAV from DJI and SiteScan cloud platform from 3D Robotics, Inc. (3DR) to process the imagery into the 3D model.

18CBnov80011

NOV 9, 2018

This photo shows the locations of the four bridge foundations. The orange tarps at the bottom right are at the completed west abutment foundations; the yellow drill rig is drilling the foundations for the west pier; the white drill rig is working on the sheet pile cofferdam at the east pier pile cap, and the snow-covered platform in the top left (far side of the river) is the location of the east abutment.
Credit: Bill Marsh Photography

Nov 20-18

Nov 20, 2018

Drilling for the east abutment foundations on the far side of the river started Monday. These are the last 7 of 30 drilled shafts to be constructed for the bridge. The form work for the west abutment also began Monday, allowing for some above-ground construction this week. Credit to Bill Marsh Photography.

Nov 30-18

Nov 30, 2018

The west abutment formwork and rebar are finished and ready for the first above-ground concrete pour. About 80 cubic meters of concrete will be used in each of the abutments. The alternating circular spots under the rebar are the drilled shaft foundations extending into the abutment.