When the Island Park bridge was replaced in 2007, I managed to capture images from a webcam that had been setup and produced a time lapse video of the Island Park bridge rapid replacement. I also managed to create a time lapse video of the Clyde Ave bridge rapid replacement in 2008.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to track down a dedicated webcam for the Carling Ave bridge rapid replacement that is happening this weekend. I guess this method of bridge replacement isn’t “new and exciting” anymore. :)  I was going to try and see if I could capture frames from the two nearby MTO webcams but this has proven tricky so far. I’ll update if I do manage to get something workable.

Anyhoo, if you’re interested in checking out the action between 6PM EDT on July 30, 2011 until noon-ish on July 31, 2011, you may have some luck with the MTO COMPASS traffic cameras.

Update: Well, I was away this weekend and didn’t manage to capture the feed from the MTO webcams but it looks like someone did:

[ The post "Queensway (417) Carling Ave Bridge Rapid Replacement" originally appeared on Ivany.]

Source – Ottawa Citizen – Saucy illicit sign points to Constance Bay’s ‘charms’

[ The post "Constance Bay Red Light District?" originally appeared on Ivany.]

If I remember correctly, Blue is considered a “local” brand across Canada so it doesn’t get nailed with the “premium” beer costs. Beers like Keith’s (my personal favorite) cost more here in Ottawa as it’s classified as an import since it’s trucked in from Nova Scotia.

Now, it strikes me as odd that the reporter would call a bunch of stores in different provinces yet leave out 2 provinces and 2 territories. Why not make those extra 4 phone calls and have a sample of pricing from each province and territory?

Updated: The original “The Beer Facts” article is no longer available but I was able to track down the prices it referenced:

Vancouver:   $24.70
Calgary:     $24.99
Regina:      $24.50
Winnipeg:    $19.25
Ottawa:      $20.50
Montreal:    $19.49
Halifax:     $20.99
St. John's:  $22.25
Yellowknife: $26.90

Image credit – DeusXFlorida

[ The post "Beer prices across Canada" originally appeared on Ivany.]

The MTO had a website with a webcam setup so people could watch the “action”. As I did last year, I grabbed the images from the website as the action was unfolding. The video below is the result of those images and allows you to see what happened. It’s not quite as “exciting” as the Island Park bridge move last year but at least this time the camera is reasonably static.

[video mp4="http://media.ivany.org/clyde_ave/clyde_bridge_jeff_ivany.mp4video.mp4" ogg="http://media.ivany.org/clyde_ave/clyde_bridge_jeff_ivany.theora.ogv" webm="http://media.ivany.org/clyde_ave/clyde_bridge_jeff_ivany.webmvp8.webm" poster="http://media.ivany.org/clyde_ave/clyde_avenue_bridge_rapid_replacement.jpg" preload="true"]

1. The webcam was updated every 30 seconds (roughly) and the video above is encoded at 5fps. The total length of the video is just over 7 minutes.
2. The compressed video is almost 70MB and the uncompressed one is over 1.8GB so no, I won’t email it to you.
3. Oh, and if you’re running IE, it might take a bit for the video to start. Try Firefox or Chrome instead.

[ The post "Time lapse video of the Clyde Avenue Bridge Rapid Replacement" originally appeared on Ivany.]

I’m wondering if Mattamy Homes will be using this concept here in the Ottawa area when they start construction of the Half Moon Bay community in Barrhaven. If so, it would be interesting to go and see the process.

There are also some other benefits that the article failed to touched upon. Think about how nice it would be to move into that neighbourhood while it is still under construction. You’d be less likely to have to deal with construction noise during daylight hours as the prefab houses would be dropped in to place. No hammering day in and day out!

[ The post "A new take on prefab housing" originally appeared on Ivany.]