William R. Bennett Bridge

Infobox_Bridge
bridge_name=Okanagan Lake Bridge

---

caption=Construction of the roadway towers on pontoon #2, June 2006
official_name=William R. Bennett Bridge
carries=Motor vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles
crosses=Okanagan Lake
locale=Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
maint=SNC-Lavalin Inc.
design=Pontoon bridge
mainspan=44 meters (144 ft)
below=18 meters (59 ft)
traffic=50,000 vehicles
open=May 25, 2008

The William R. Bennett Bridge is a bridge in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada. Completed on May 25, 2008, the bridge will replace the older Okanagan Lake Bridge built in to link downtown Kelowna to Westside across Okanagan Lake.

On April 21 2005, premier Gordon Campbell officially renamed the bridge from the Okanagan Lake Bridge to William R. Bennett Bridge in honour of former Premier William Richards Bennett, a native of Kelowna.

Construction budget

The first press release from the BC Ministry of Transportation to include budget information was in 2003. At that time, the project was estimated to cost $100 million CAD for the bridge and another $20 million CAD for the two interchange upgrades on the west side of the lake.ref|2003TRAN0063-000931

By June 29 2005, the cost of the bridge was increased from the previous estimate of $100 million CAD to $144 million CAD "due to dramatic increases in the cost of construction materials and labour", which includes significant increases in the cost of concrete, steel, and fuel. Over the next 30 years, the province of British Columbia expects to pay SNC-Lavalin a total of $179 million CAD "to design, build, finance, operate, maintain and rehabilitate the bridge".ref|2005TRAN0032-000628

Construction schedule

*April 2005: Arthon Construction Ltd. begins bridge end preloads from rock on Westside Road
*May 2005: Arthon completes east side preload
*June 2005: SNC-Lavalin Inc. is chosen to design, build, finance and operate the new bridge
*July 2005: Construction begins on a dry dock near Bear Creek Provincial Park, where the bridge pontoons will be built
*Q3 2005: Arthon completes preloads on west side of Lake Okanagan
*Q3 2005: Graving dock ready
*Q3 2006: Roadwork on both approaches begins
*Q4 2006: First four pontoons in place
*Q1 2007: Bridge deck construction begins
*Q4 2007: All pontoons in place
*Q4 2007: Roadwork on both approaches is completed
*Q1 2008: Bridge deck construction is completed
*Q2 2008: Test and commission
*Q2 2008: Bridge officially opens
**Official opening scheduled for May 25th, 2008
*Q2 2009: Decommission of the old bridge
*Q2 2009: Shoreline restoration

Bridge facts

*At the deepest point near the middle of the bridge, the lake is approximately 60 meters deep
*There are a total of 9 cement pontoons
*The pontoons are 25 m (82 ft) wide and 60 to 90 m (about 200 to 300 ft) long
*The navigation span on the west side of the bridge will be 44 m (144 ft) long and will provide 18 m (59 ft) of clearance between the bridge and the lakeref|clearance
*Three lanes will be for westbound traffic
*Two lanes will be for eastbound traffic
*An additional 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) wide pedestrian and cyclist pathway will exist on the south (eastbound) side of the bridge
*The west side of the bridge will have a pedestrian/cyclist and vehicle underpass at Campbell Road and another interchange at Westside Road
*The Kelowna side of the bridge will retain the existing pedestrian/cyclist underpass between City Park and Lake Avenue
*The new bridge is designed to handle up to 80,000 vehicles daily; the current Okanagan Lake Bridge was designed to handle 38,000 vehicles daily but in 2005 handled approximately 50,000 vehicles dailyref|vehicles

Gallery

References

# [http://www.partnershipsbc.ca/pdf/MoT-OKB-Release-102803.pdf Ministry of Transportation press release 2003TRAN0063-000931] October 28 2003
# [http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/WilliamRBennettBridge/updates/WRBennett_Bridge_preferred_proponent.pdf Ministry of Transportation press release 2005TRAN0032-000628] June 29 2005
# [http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/WilliamRBennettBridge/panels/PBC_Board-6.pdf Ministry of Transportation: Profile of the elevated portion of the William R. Bennett Bridge]
# Westside Weekly, February 8 2006, "Public hates billboards -- report" by Anne-Rachelle McHugh

External links

* [http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/WilliamRBennettBridge/ Ministry of Transportation: William R. Bennett Bridge]
* [http://www.partnershipsbc.ca/files/project-okanagan.html Partnerships BC project page for William R. Bennett Bridge]
* [http://www.snclavalin.com/ SNC-Lavalin Inc.]
* [http://www.westmar.com/ Westmar Consultants Inc.] (created the initial base design for the bridge)