CSEA/LTA Joint Webinar Explores Bridge Bearing Replacement in Practice

Written by Chaoyi Wang, Reviewed by Duo Huang

On September 2, 2026, the CSEA/LTA Singapore Joint Webinar Series hosted a technical webinar on Bridge Bearing Replacement to share practical experience in the design and construction of jacking, temporary support and bearing replacement. The session was moderated by Hangang Li, Senior Structural Engineer with the City of Toronto. The webinar was held on Microsoft Teams from 9:00 PM to 10:30 PM (EDT) and attracted over 80 participants.

The webinar opened with the keynote speaker David Lai, Technical Director at WSP (Former head of MTO’s Rehabilitation Section), who presented an overview of the bearing replacement process and its key technical challenges. His presentation covered the typical bearing‑replacement sequence, jacking design and methods, and the design of temporary supports. He also emphasized the importance of accounting for thermal movement and considering the eccentricity of loading on the substructure from the temporary support. Several slides demonstrated how load distribution across a bridge can vary, showing how calculated reaction forces depend on the assumed transverse structural model and highlighting the importance of selecting an appropriate level of analysis for jacking and temporary support design.

Nathan Bakker, Team Lead with Stantec, followed with a case study on the replacement of bearings on a multi-span post-tensioned voided slab bridge. Using design drawings and construction photographs, he reviewed the existing bridge condition, rehabilitation scope, jacking operations, temporary supports, bearing‑seat rehabilitation, and installation of the new bearings. The project highlighted several practical constraints, including deterioration conditions around the existing abutments and bearing seats, limited working space, bridge skew, and detailing and removal restrictions associated with the existing post‑tensioned anchorage and tendons. His presentation also demonstrated how construction staging and contract requirements must be considered as part of the bearing‑replacement design. The bridge rehabilitation work was carried out over two construction seasons, so accommodating seasonal thermal movement was critical and required special detailing.

The final presentation was delivered by Derek Simms, Technical Lead and Senior Structural Engineer at Egis, who focused on the challenges of replacing existing pot bearings. His presentation covered existing bridge articulation, replacement bearing layouts, reinforcement and anchorage conflicts, temporary support systems, jacking-load analysis and stability during construction. He also discussed site access, working-space limitations and construction duration. A step-by-step sequence illustrated the process from jacking and temporary support through removal of the existing bearing, construction of the temporary supporting structure, installation of the replacement bearing and final lowering of the bridge.

Across all three presentations, several common themes emerged: the need to understand the existing structure before developing a replacement scheme, the importance of realistic jacking reactions and temporary load paths, and the close relationship between structural analysis, construction sequencing and field constraints. By combining design guidance with project examples and construction photographs, the webinar provided participants with a practical look at the engineering challenges involved in bridge bearing replacement and supported continued technical exchange between structural engineering professionals in Canada and Singapore.