If you’re in the east end of the city then you’ll want to check out the two latest additions to Toronto’s Port Lands Bridges! The structures opened Thursday, January 25th, both for vehicle, pedestrian, and cyclist traffic to bring visitors into and around the future site of Villiers Island. 

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port lands bridges
Image via CNW Group/Entuitive

The bridges are named the Cherry Street North and Commissioners Street Bridges and the eye-popping structures are more than just for getting around.

According to Entuitive, one of the bridge’s designers, the goal of the design was to create elegant and efficient structures that will function as both crossing points and compelling destinations for the public.

Cherry Street North and Commissioners Street Bridges are part of an aesthetically unified family of four structures and showcase “innovative fabrication techniques alongside state-of-the-art engineering.”

“We’re pleased to celebrate the opening of Cherry Street North and Commissioners Street Bridges, and to reflect on our rewarding and fruitful collaboration with SBP and Grimshaw, as well as our construction partners at Ellis Don,” said Michael Meschino, Principal, Entuitive.

“Waterfront Toronto is one step closer to completing one of the province’s most exciting projects, and the creation of crucial infrastructure, a place to live, work and play, will be a truly remarkable transformation.”

The Port Lands Flood Protection and Enabling Infrastructure called for bridges that would “reference the rich history of Toronto’s waterfront while also supporting a livable and walkable future for the new neighbourhood.”

The design team says they landed on “a hybrid shell-arch bridge structure—essentially curved tied arches with a planar deck connected by hangers.” The self-anchoring curved-tied arch not only maximizes the material efficiency but also reduces cost.

 

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Since arriving in Toronto in 2022, the Port Lands Bridges have won international engineering and design awards including including the Institution of Structural Engineers, the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations, the Structural Engineers Association of NY, and the Association of Consulting Engineers Companies for Ontario.

If you don’t have any upcoming plans, take a trip over to the east end and check out these brand new additions to Toronto’s Port Lands Bridges!