Calgary’s growing population led the Government of Alberta and the City of Calgary to begin planning
for the Calgary Ring Road (Stoney/Tsuut’ina Trail) in the 1970s to improve community access to Calgary’s
roadway network. The recent opening of the last section of the Ring Road creates a 101km-long freeflow
circuit around Calgary that reduces traffic congestion and improves commuter access to major road
arteries to and from greater Calgary communities. The completion of the Ring Road included the
twinning of the original 1997 Stoney Trail bridge over the Bow River which completed the northwest
section of the road.
This paper will discuss the project to twin Stoney Trail over the Bow River which involves both road and
bridge components, including the construction of a new five-span river crossing – a 470m-long bridge
over the Bow River, directly west of the existing Stoney Trail bridge. The new bridge was segmentally
cast-in-place using a balanced cantilever method. This means the superstructure was built out from each
of the piers and abutments in six separate sections and joined together at completion.
Other aspects of the project include a single lane interchange bridge at Tuscany/Scenic Acres, associated
collector-distributor roadway, and adding a lane to existing SB mainline to increase capacity. This work
was to connect the newly twinned Bow River Bridge to existing sections of Stoney Trail to the north of
Crowchild Trail with 3 lanes Southbound.
