Each day, the 40th Avenue Overpass Interchange gets closer and closer to being done. A major milestone was completed earlier this month. 

Adam Carroll, Project Manager in the Capital Projects Office with the City of Airdrie, is happy to see the overpass girders complete. 

“All of the structural girders that support the bridge itself across the QE II, Main Street, and the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) tracks have been installed and are complete. That was a major milestone completed.” 

For the next little bit, major construction on the QE II portion of the overpass will be put on hold so workers can focus on other parts of the project. 

“We are prepping the Main Street bridge and the CPR bridge for concrete slab installation,” says Carroll, “They've already installed pre-manufactured concrete slabs that go on top of the bridge. Then we're going to pour a concrete layer that will pull together all of the girders, rebar, and precast concrete panels. We'll make one unit that will be structurally sound to support all of the traffic that goes over the highway. That is the next big milestone.” 

The plan after pouring the concrete is to finish the two bridges and pave everything west of Nose Creek to the top of the CP Rail right-of-way. 

Next year, according to Carroll, they will go back to focusing on the bridge over the highway. 

“We're still building up the abutments on the east side of QE II. Once that's done, we can start looking at being ready to pave and construct the bridge next year.” 

If the milestones are complete for the Main Street and CPR bridge, Carroll says they will start looking to install traffic signals and streetlights as that can be done through the winter. 

The service road adjacent to the east of the QE II is closed permanently. Carroll says there was a significant amount of signage and social media information released by the city to let drivers know the road would no longer be in use. 

Carroll reminds Albertans that during the stretch of construction on the QE II, the speed limit is only 80 km/h within the construction zone with or without any workers present. 

Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@discoverairdrie.com