The replacement of the Carling Avenue Queensway bridge wrapped up earlier than expected, as the highway re-opened around 9:30 a.m. Sunday.
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation said Sunday in a tweet that the replacement, expected to take 17 hours and last from 6 p.m. Saturday to 11 a.m. Sunday, had finished in 15 and a half hours.
Crews worked through the night using machines that could lift away the 50-year-old overpass and replace it with a new one.
Those in the bleachers that were set up said they wanted to see the $11.7 million project as it happened.
"We've seen it on the Discovery Centre, so we decided to come and check it out for ourselves," said one audience member.
"If I had a bottle of water I'd stay for the full (procedure)," said another.
It was sentiment that was echoed by the government.
"It's great that people still get as excited as we do at the ministry," said a transportation ministry official. "People want to see, they want to learn, they want to experience. It was like history in the making."
In the past, this procedure could have taken as much as two years.
"I was astounded the first time this happened," said Ottawa-Orleans MPP Phil McNeely on Saturday. "The engineers didn't get enough praise; you don't hear about it."
Ontario's Ministry of Transportation said there is still minor work like paving and guardrails to be completed, but it isn't expected to impact traffic.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Stefanie Masotti
