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Golden Ears Bridge
The Golden Ears Bridge is a six-lane extradosed bridge in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia. It spans the Fraser River, connecting Langley on the south side with Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge on the north side. The bridge opened to traffic on June 16, 2009. The bridge replaced a previous ferry service several kilometres upstream and will be run by a private consortium, the Golden Crossing General Partnership, until June 2041.
The bridge, owned by TransLink, has a clearance of 40 m (130 ft), and a total length of 2,410 m (7,910 ft) including approaches. The extradosed bridge incorporates three main spans, each 244 m (801 ft) long and two shoreline spans, each 122 m (400 ft) long for total length of 976 m (3,202 ft) which makes it the longest extradosed bridge in North America. Eight pylons are situated in the river, 4 of which are 90 m (300 ft) high.
The bridge features bike-pedestrian protected lanes on each side. It boasts two golden metal eagle sculptures at the top of the bridge that were fashioned by a German company – after the initial sculptural design by a U.S. firm was abandoned for structural weakness.
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.
The bridge was constructed by a joint venture of CH2M Hill and Bilfinger Berger called Golden Crossing Constructors Joint Venture, at a final cost of $808 million. The construction project, officially launched in June 2006, created 14 kilometres of new road. Golden Ears Way has direct connections to Lougheed Highway, Maple Meadows Way, 113B Avenue, 200th Street, 176th Street (Highway 15) and the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1). The completed bridge opened at 2:00AM on June 16, 2009.
The project was planned to permit archaeological teams to comb through a part of First Nations land that the bridge passed through. The team, led by a Simon Fraser University archaeology professor, discovered pottery shards, metal implements and 3,600-year-old wapato, or potatoes, evidence that the aboriginal peoples in the area engaged in farming. Some members of the Coast Salish Katzie Nation decried the way that the bridge affected what they described as a "3000 year old burial ground".
Bilfinger Berger applied to the federal government to bring in foreigners to work on the bridge, arguing that there was a shortage of qualified construction workers in Canada. The BC Federation of Labour disagreed, arguing that Bilfinger Berger was simply unprepared to pay market rates for skilled workers and wanted to exploit foreigners.
The Golden Ears Bridge had a fixed total construction cost of $808 million (CAD), well over the initial budget of $600 million. The project was financed as a Public Private Partnership (P3) through which TransLink is leasing back the bridge over a 35-year timeframe. The P3 was administered by the provincial government organization Partnerships BC. This aspect of the project was controversial and it led Vancouver city councillor David Cadman to vote against the project when it was presented to the TransLink board for approval.
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Golden Ears Bridge
The Golden Ears Bridge is a six-lane extradosed bridge in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia. It spans the Fraser River, connecting Langley on the south side with Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge on the north side. The bridge opened to traffic on June 16, 2009. The bridge replaced a previous ferry service several kilometres upstream and will be run by a private consortium, the Golden Crossing General Partnership, until June 2041.
The bridge, owned by TransLink, has a clearance of 40 m (130 ft), and a total length of 2,410 m (7,910 ft) including approaches. The extradosed bridge incorporates three main spans, each 244 m (801 ft) long and two shoreline spans, each 122 m (400 ft) long for total length of 976 m (3,202 ft) which makes it the longest extradosed bridge in North America. Eight pylons are situated in the river, 4 of which are 90 m (300 ft) high.
The bridge features bike-pedestrian protected lanes on each side. It boasts two golden metal eagle sculptures at the top of the bridge that were fashioned by a German company – after the initial sculptural design by a U.S. firm was abandoned for structural weakness.
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.
The bridge was constructed by a joint venture of CH2M Hill and Bilfinger Berger called Golden Crossing Constructors Joint Venture, at a final cost of $808 million. The construction project, officially launched in June 2006, created 14 kilometres of new road. Golden Ears Way has direct connections to Lougheed Highway, Maple Meadows Way, 113B Avenue, 200th Street, 176th Street (Highway 15) and the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1). The completed bridge opened at 2:00AM on June 16, 2009.
The project was planned to permit archaeological teams to comb through a part of First Nations land that the bridge passed through. The team, led by a Simon Fraser University archaeology professor, discovered pottery shards, metal implements and 3,600-year-old wapato, or potatoes, evidence that the aboriginal peoples in the area engaged in farming. Some members of the Coast Salish Katzie Nation decried the way that the bridge affected what they described as a "3000 year old burial ground".
Bilfinger Berger applied to the federal government to bring in foreigners to work on the bridge, arguing that there was a shortage of qualified construction workers in Canada. The BC Federation of Labour disagreed, arguing that Bilfinger Berger was simply unprepared to pay market rates for skilled workers and wanted to exploit foreigners.
The Golden Ears Bridge had a fixed total construction cost of $808 million (CAD), well over the initial budget of $600 million. The project was financed as a Public Private Partnership (P3) through which TransLink is leasing back the bridge over a 35-year timeframe. The P3 was administered by the provincial government organization Partnerships BC. This aspect of the project was controversial and it led Vancouver city councillor David Cadman to vote against the project when it was presented to the TransLink board for approval.