As the redevelopment of the St. Catharines GO Precinct continues, the replacement of the St. Paul Street West Canadian National Railway bridge phase is now complete – a year ahead of schedule.
St. Catharines-based Rankin Construction Inc. was awarded the contract in September 2024 by the Region of Niagara to remove and replace the bridge, complete upgrades to the GO Station and reconstruct the roads in and around the area, including the St. Paul West and Ridley Roads.
“Multiple crews were made available by Rankin so that work could be completed in various areas at the same time allowing for project acceleration,” said said Bill Snow, senior vice-president with Rankin Construction Inc., adding, “Rankin bridge and road crews worked long hours and on weekends during critical periods in order to meet aggressive milestones and deadlines without compromising the quality of the work.”
The multi-component Niagara Region project has cost sharing agreements in place with the City of St. Catharines and the CNR.
The bridge component cost was split between Niagara Region and CNR. The associated roadwork is being cost shared between Niagara Region and the City of St. Catharines. The city will pay for all of the sanitary sewers and watermains, while storm sewers will be cost shared between the city and Niagara Region.
The bridge, originally built in 1922, had restrictions placed on it in December 2022 due to excessive deterioration. By November 2023, after receiving an engineering report indicating it was no longer safe for traffic, the region closed it completely.
Work in this phase included:
- Demolition of the existing bridge during railway track blocks.
- Driving H Piles for a new bridge.
- Construction of eight-metre-tall abutments.
- Construction of retaining structures at each approach to raise the grade and improve sightlines for vehicles travelling over the bridge.
- Lightweight concrete fill was used inside prefabricated concrete retaining walls to reduce loading on the poor underlying soils.
- Upgrades to sanitary/storm sewers as well as new watermains were completed on both sides of the bridge.
- Twelve, 90,000 pound concrete box girders were placed on the new concrete abutments to span the CN railway tracks.
- A reinforced concrete deck overlay was then placed on the girders followed by concrete parapet walls on either side of the roadway.
- Several decorative elements were added to enhance the overall esthetics of the bridge.
The bridge replacement is one of three main phases of the project, with the other two phases being the GO Station parking lot and infrastructure improvements and road reconstruction and infrastructure improvements in the area of St. Paul West and Ridley College.
“The estimated construction cost identified in the tender (which could have been considered the budget) was $32.5 million. We predict that the final value for the project we will be (plus or minus) $29 million,” said Snow.
The bridge replacement cost came in at just over $10.2 million and the balance will be for road and infrastructure reconstruction.
Next steps are clean up and demobilization, which should be complete by the end of December as well as accessibility to Great Western Street. New lighting on Ridley Road will be installed in January with final bridge painting and landscaping to be complete in spring 2026.
“This bridge is an important corridor that connects residents, supports local businesses and strengthens the daily life of our city,” said St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe. “With the bridge restored, and the GO Station development continuing, we’re excited to keep moving towards a more connected, accessible and vibrant St. Catharines.”
