Canada’s new floating bridge is taking shape as steel pipe, some measuring up to 50 metres, is put in place as support for five piers forming the west entrance of the William R. Bennett Bridge.
Design Unique for B.C.
Project director estimates unique floating design used fewer than 10 times throughout the world
JEAN SORENSON
correspondent
KELOWNA
Canada’s new floating bridge is taking shape as steel pipe, some measuring up to 50 metres, is put in place as support for five piers forming the west entrance of the William R. Bennett Bridge.
Vancouver Pile Driving Ltd. has started placing steel piles on Okanagan Lake’s west bank.
The first 280 metres of the bridge is being formed in steel because of the west shore’s unstable soil conditions and low-water depth, which prohibits the use of the large concrete floating pontoons utilized elsewhere on the project, said SNC-Lavalin project director Tom Tasaka.
The $144.5-million William R. Bennett Bridge, measuring 700 metres and part of Highway 97, will replace the existing 1958-built floating bridge linking Westbank on the west with Kelowna on the east shore.
The existing three-lane bridge handles 50,000 vehicles daily with traffic congestion a major problem.
In total, nine concrete pontoons – 25 metres wide and 60 to 90 metres in length – will be used to span the lake and form the basis of a five-lane structure.
The first 5,000-ton pontoon was floated five miles from the graving dock, where the pontoons are formed, to the construction area in early June.
Kelowna’s Greyback Construction is current forming a second unit at the graving site, located north of Bear Creek Provincial Park.
“We will need to have at least three before we begin placing them,” Tasaka said.
Pontoons will be held in place by the existing bridge’s underwater anchors and four more will be added.
Steel is also being used to fabricate the 18-metre high, elevated span of the bridge, which will eliminate any need to swing-gate for marine traffic.
The steel super-structure is being fabricated by Rapid-Span Bridge in Armstrong. Once complete in 2007, the components will be trucked to the site for assembly. The bridge is slated for completion in spring 2008.
"Everything is new and we are doing it for the first time."
SNC-Lavalin Project Director
Tom Tasaka
Buckland & Taylor Ltd. bridge engineer Joel Leal said the new structure will provide an enhanced safety level as the pontoons are designed with internal chambers.
“It looks like grillage,” he said.
The design protects against a pontoon sustaining damage and taking on water. Leal said the bridge design is not unique, although it differs from what is commonly seen in B.C.
Buckland & Taylor is lead designer for the WRB Bridge Constructors Group, a joint-venture of SNC-Lavalin Constructors (Pacific) Inc. and CMIR OKB Holdings Ltd. (Vancouver Pile Driving) and a P3 venture between the B.C. government and SNC-Lavalin Inc.
Tasaka estimates there are only eight to 10 floating bridges in the world and the fact this is a new experience makes it challenging.
“Everything is new and we are doing it for the first time.”
Just this month steel piles are set in place in Okanagan Lake to set the groundwork for the new William R. Bennett Bridge.
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