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The Golden Ears Bridge is a new six-lane extradosed bridge[1] under construction between Langley and Maple Ridge, British Columbia, crossing the Fraser River. The new bridge, owned by TransLink, will have a clearance of 40 metres, and with a span of 968 m (3175 ft.), this will be the longest extradosed bridge in North America when it is completed in 2009. The construction project, officially launched in June 2006, will create 14 kilometres of new road. It will have direct connections to Lougheed Highway, Maple Meadows Way, 113B Avenue, 200th Street, 176th Street (Highway 15) and the Trans-Canada Highway.
TransLink's current operating plan calls for the opening of the bridge to be followed by the cessation of the Albion Ferry, a passenger/vehicle ferry that has been operational since 7 June 1957 and employs 59 full-time and 18 auxiliary employees. In 2003, annual traffic amounted to 1.5 million vehicles and 4.0 million passengers.
[edit] Construction
The Golden Ears Bridge is slated to open in the summer of 2009 and has a fixed total construction cost of $808 million (CAD). The construction contract has been let to a joint venture of CH2M Hill and Bilfinger Berger.[2]
[edit] Naming
The project was named through a community process and reflects the well-known lower Fraser Valley landmark, the Golden Ears peaks, which crown Mount Blanshard in Golden Ears Provincial Park. The successful submission to name the bridge was that of George Tabert, a local pastor.
[edit] Timeline
- August 6 - Environmental certification was received[3]
- September 15 - TransLink and the Katzie First Nation signed a Benefit Agreement
- November - The Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Act was amended to allow for tolling
- January - A Request for Proposals was issued for the design, construction, operation, maintenance and rehabilitation
- February 16 - A bylaw governing tolling was passed by TransLink[4]
- June 22 - TransLink and the four municipalities (Langley, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows and Surrey) finalized the Golden Ears Bridge Master Municipal Agreement[5]
- December 7 - TransLink selected Golden Crossing Group as the proponent to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the bridge.[6]
- June 5 - Pile cap and pier construction underway on the bridge.
- June 5 - Bridge is expected to be open to traffic.[7]
The new bridge will use an electronic tolling system to track vehicles that cross to recover construction costs. Tolls have not been used in the Lower Mainland since the 1960s when they were removed from all bridges.
- Drivers will have the option of opening a tolling account. This will include an electronic tolling device, or transponder, to be mounted on the vehicle's windshield. It will detect usage of the bridge, allowing toll charges to be automatically billed to the driver's account, streamlining the tolling process.
- Vehicles without an electronic tolling device will have their license plates identified through an automated video recognition system, and will be billed accordingly. Drivers of such vehicles will also have the option to pay for their trip in advance by establishing a temporary account with a credit card, and will pay a lower toll rate than if they did not establish such an account.[8]
[edit] Toll Rates (2003)
| Type of Vehicle |
Toll-Device |
Pre-paid |
Without a toll device |
| Car |
$2.85 |
$3.45 |
$4.00 |
| Truck or bus |
$5.75 |
$6.30 |
$6.80 |
| Large truck |
$8.60 |
$9.15 |
$9.75 |
| Motorcycle |
$1.45 |
$2.00 |
$2.55 |
[9]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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Bridges and Tunnels in Greater Vancouver |
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| Road bridges |
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| Road-rail bridges |
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| Rail bridges |
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| Pedestrian bridges |
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| Road tunnels |
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| Rail tunnels |
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