Project Overview

Hipson Bridge is a historic stone arch bridge known to have been built by a visiting Scottish mason in the early 1900s. The bridge, originally on Highway 3, was abandoned in the 1930s when the highway was realigned. The bridge, along with a monument for persons lost at sea, is a major tourist attraction.

Structural investigation and rehabilitation strategy for an historic stone arch bridge in Yarmouth County.

On behalf of PSPC, WSP Canada Group (WSP) engaged SHM Canada to design, install, and operate a Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system to monitor strain in selected truss members of the Alexandra Bridge. Assessment of heritage structures, like the Alexandra Bridge, presents many challenges. Factors such as rusting, corrosion, and a long history of different repairs and rehabilitations may make traditional forms of assessment, such as surveying the movement of expansion joints, less accurate than they might be in a newer structure.