The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) manages provincial structures in Ontario including 2850 bridges. Following an extended period of fiscal restraint, the last decade has marked a dramatic increase in bridge construction work, with rehabilitation of a third of the provincial bridge inventory.
Bridge design and corrosion protection have evolved over the last 60 years. The practice of bridge rehabilitation is well-established in Ontario. Through the 1990s, standards were introduced for integral abutments, semi-integral abutments, and flexible links slabs between simply-supported spans to improve a bridge’s durability in initial construction or rehabilitation. Accelerating bridge construction by reducing time on site is a current focus. The MTO has tried many forms of prefabrication.