Confederation Drive Pedestrian Bridge
Design-Build Contractor
A Vital Pedestrian Link
The new Confederation Drive Pedestrian Bridge replaces the existing Confederation Drive vehicle bridge (decommissioned in 2015) over a bypass segment of the historic Rideau Canal in the Town of Smiths Falls, Ontario. The new structure provides a vital Active Transportation (AT) link between Centennial and Veteran's Memorial Parks, central destinations for the Town's residents and tourists.
The footbridge design incorporates traditional materials such as timber, steel, and stone to seamlessly integrate with the historical context of the Rideau Canal (considered one of the greatest engineering feats of the 19th century) and complement the Town’s architecture.
The design features symmetrical viewing platforms on each side of the bridge, offering pedestrians an enhanced experience of the river and surrounding scenery. This new crossing will be a landmark for the Town of Smiths Falls for decades to come.
Design
The 52-meter (170-foot) bridge features tapered Alaskan Yellow Cedar glulam arches which support a doubly-curved metal roof and reach nearly 9 meters (30 feet) above the bridge deck to clear-span the Rideau Canal. The arches are shaped to follow the flow of forces - a common feature of our bridges. Minimizing the project's environmental impact on the river and preserving the natural waterway, the clear span alignment eliminates the need for in-water works. The abutments are cast directly behind the existing canal walls, leaving them intact. Transitioning from timber to stone-clad concrete at the abutments, the arch design minimizes exposure of the lower timber.
Incorporating a covered roof was a key desire of the Town’s brief; the doubly curved timber framed roof system protects the user and the timber structure itself, hugging the arches for most of the bridge length. Slight cross curvature of the extended corrugated metal roof allows the roof to shed rain sideways, eliminating the need for gutters. The bridge deck consists of gapped and pre-stressed timber deck panels, which cantilever at the midspan viewing platforms.
This signature bridge, a carefully chosen combination of timber, steel, and stonework, provides a durable, sustainable contribution to the historic Rideau Canal, and a modern first of its kind in Ontario.
Site Works
The 52m Confederation Drive Pedestrian Bridge was erected in a single 66,000-lb lift in October 2025. It was conceptualized as an elegant, single-lift clear span to avoid the need for in-water works.
The rigging of the bridge was designed in such a way that the deflected shape during the lift offset some of the construction tolerances that were encountered during the assembly process. Once the bridge was suspended from the crane, the end-to-end length was within 3mm (1/8") of accuracy. The lift followed after a busy week of preparing the bridge abutments, including the installation of four precast concrete pedestals. Multiple rounds of surveying across the river ensured that the bolted fixed-base connections on the corners of the arches lined up perfectly on the day of the big lift.
Opening & Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
On May 22, 2026, the Confederation Drive Pedestrian Bridge officially opened in Smiths Falls, Ontario, with Member of Parliament Bruce Fanjoy cutting the ribbon on behalf of Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. The crossing replaces an existing steel truss vehicle bridge that was taken out of service in 2015 and spans a bypass segment of the historic Rideau Canal, restoring a vital active transportation link between Centennial and Veteran's Memorial Parks, central destinations for both residents and tourists. Designed and built by British Columbia firm StructureCraft, the roughly 50-metre clear-span structure is Ontario's first modern timber, steel, and stone pedestrian bridge, featuring elegant Alaskan Yellow Cedar glulam arches that rise nearly 9 metres above the deck beneath a sweeping, doubly curved metal roof that protects pedestrians and the timber from the elements. Notably, the bridge was erected in a single 66,000-pound lift in October 2025, a clear-span approach chosen to avoid any in-water works and to protect the heritage masonry of the UNESCO-listed canal.