South portion of Arlington Bridge now removed

CTV’s Jeff Keele has more on the demolition of the Arlington Bridge—a landmark in Winnipeg for over 100 years.

The first part of the Arlington Bridge has been removed.

Crews were on scene Thursday morning taking out the south portion, which started at Logan Avenue and goes part way across the rail yard underneath.

Officially opened on Feb. 5, 1912, the bridge has been part of Winnipeg’s skyline for more than 114 years, according to the city. The bridge connected the North End and Point Douglas.

“This is an historic day,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham at a news conference near the bridge.

“This bridge is over 100 years old. It has been a key point of connection between north Winnipeg and south Winnipeg.”

Point Douglas Coun. Vivian Santos said this is the start of a new chapter for the area.

“While it is difficult to say goodbye to a bridge that has served Winnipeg for more than a century, removing it is an important step toward building a modern replacement that will safely reconnect the North End, Point Douglas, and surrounding neighbourhoods for generations to come,” she said in a news release.

Damir Muhurdarevic, the bridge projects engineer for the city as well as the project manager for the Arlington Bridge, said the portion removed Thursday is the first of five portions they plan on removing this year.

Each portion will be cut away and then supported on large shipping containers, being pulled to the side and then taken apart, he said.

“It’s going to take eight hours to take out of place because this machine is moving at a snail’s pace,” said Muhurdarevic. “It won’t be demolished today, it’ll be taken out and put into the staging area today and then demolished tomorrow. Then four days later we’re doing the next one, and four days later and so on and so forth.”

The ramp leading up to the bridge will also be ripped apart.

The city said the north portion at Dufferin Avenue will be taken down in 2027.

If everything goes according to plan, Muhurdarevic said the entire bridge could be down by September or October.

The bridge was decommissioned and permanently closed in November 2023 as it was deteriorating at an accelerated rate.

Council awarded a $9.9 million contract for the removal of the south end and work started in June to get to this stage.

Another $5 million has been budgeted for the design of a new bridge.

When the time comes to actually start building a new bridge, the mayor said funding will be required from all three levels of government.