The Chief William Commanda Bridge is set to open, two years after the $22.6M Design-Bid-Build project, designed by Parsons Corp., was awarded to Aecon Construction by the City of Ottawa. Aecon’s scope of work included the conversion of an existing rail bridge over the Ottawa River, between the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau, Quebec, to a multi-use bridge for cyclists and pedestrian traffic. The timber deck structure is split into two bridges and contains a total of 13 spans and measurers 3,245 feet (989 meters) in length and 16 feet (5 meters) in width. The original bridge was built in 1879 and reconstructed in 1926.

The collaboration between RJ Watson, Aecon, and Parsons highlights a shared vision of innovation and quality. RJ Was selected to provide the high-load, multi-rotational bearings because of their reputation for a high-quality and cost-competitive product. The long-term durability and ease of maintenance for the Disktron Bearings will provide decades of successful performance for this re-purposed structure linking the pathways between two provinces.

Bearing Technical Information

  • Bearing quantity: 52, 26 fixed and 26 uni-directionally guided
  • Vertical load capacity: 324 – 565 kips (1441 – 2513 kN)
  • Horizontal load capacity: 33 – 85 kips (147 – 378 kN)
  • Longitudinal displacement: 6 – 8” (152 – 203 mm)
  • Service rotation: +/- 0.026 radians


About Disktron Bearings