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Wood Research & Development

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Four decades of timber expertise

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Work that keeps landmarks standing

Inspections

Safety & condition verdicts

Engineering & Design

Repairs, restorations, new builds

Lab Testing

Accredited, non-destructive methods

Inspections · Canada

Timber inspection for Canada's aging, and corroding, bridge inventory

From the Maritimes to the Prairies to the coast, WRD inspects Canada’s timber bridges non-destructively, rates what they can carry, and shows owners when a restoration beats a replacement.

Canada

· regional page

The Canada Problem

Canada runs on aging timber bridges, in climates that punish steel

Coastal Canada sits in some of the highest corrosion zones on Earth, and inland freeze-thaw cycles are just as unforgiving, which is exactly where timber’s durability advantage shows up, but only if the structure is diagnosed properly. Too many sound timber bridges get closed and replaced because no one measured what the wood could still do. WRD’s Level 2 and Level 3 inspections use EPHOD® non-destructive testing to find internal decay and rate real capacity, so provincial and municipal owners can defend a restore-or-replace decision with data, not assumption.

Timber bridge deck works, Nova Scotia

Who We Serve Here

Built for Canadian bridge owners

Provincial & territorial transportation

County & municipal public works

Heritage stewards

Bridge-network asset managers

Timber Restoration Services

The method, in brief

Canadian inspections run on WRD’s accredited, non-destructive method, EPHOD® and PET stress-wave testing, and can run as phase one of a design-build with a client Hold Point, so testing directs the repair. See how a WRD inspection works →

Standards & Credentials

Assessed to CSA S6, with the CL-625 model

Bridge assessment to CSA S6 (Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code) with the CL-625 live-load model. IAS ISO 17020 inspection · ISO 17025 lab, so the report carries defensible weight with reviewers and agencies.

Glulam arch connections, Roger Bacon Bridge

Regional Projects

On record in Canada

Roger Bacon Bridge

Nappan, Nova Scotia · 2019

Roger Bacon Bridge

Longest clear-span three-lane timber bridge in Canada

Inspection and testing behind a 40 m glulam arch built for a 75-year life; multiple 2022 WoodWorks Atlantic awards.

Providence Bridge

Oshawa, Ontario · 2013

Providence Bridge

Five-span timber overpass across a CP rail line

WRD inspected the Providence Road overpass in June 2013 and recommended a repair strategy. That October the substructure was restored in place and the superstructure fully replaced with glulam girders, a transverse glulam deck, and a crash-tested guard rail, achieving a CL-625-ONT load rating.

For Canada projects

Specified to the standards your engineers already work to

Bridge assessment and load rating to CSA S6 with the CL-625 model: for provincial transportation, counties, and heritage owners.

CSA S6

CL-625

IAS ISO 17020

IAS ISO 17025

ALSC

Your Canada contact

Clay Hoger

Senior Timber Structure Engineer II

11 Simpson Street
Hillsborough, NB E4H 2C1