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Johnson Street Bridge
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Johnson Street Bridge
The Johnson Street Bridge is a bascule bridge spanning the Victoria Harbour in Victoria, British Columbia. Four known bridges have spanned the narrows between Victoria's Inner Harbour and Upper Harbour, connecting Johnson Street on the east shore with Esquimalt Road on the west shore. The current bridge is Canada's largest single-leaf bascule bridge. It carries three vehicular traffic lanes, with a pedestrian walkway on its south side, and a multi-use pathway on its north side. The bridge is lit with blue LED lighting as a homage to its predecessor, which was referred to as the "Blue Bridge". It is one of only two road drawbridges on Vancouver Island, the other being the 17th Street Bridge in Courtenay.
The first bridge connecting the west and east shores of the Victoria Harbour was a low wagon bridge, completed in 1855. The bridge blocked marine traffic, and was ultimately dismantled seven years later in 1862 and replaced with a ferry service.
A second bridge, for rail and foot traffic only, was constructed in 1888. This hand-operated swing bridge of limited load capacity was in operation until 1923.
The third Johnson Street Bridge, completed in 1924, was built as two adjacent, independent, heel trunnion bascule bridges. It later became referred to as the "Blue Bridge" or "Old Blue", after it was painted a light blue colour following corrosion repairs in the late 1970s.
The third Johnson Street Bridge was designed under the direction of city engineer Mr. F. M. Preston in 1920. The Strauss Bascule Bridge Company, which held the patents on the design, prepared the plans for the 45 m (148 ft) bascule spans and the operating machinery. The superstructure of the bridge was fabricated in Walkerville, Ontario of 100 tons of steel. The sub-structure was built by the City of Victoria Engineering Department and required 9,144 cubic metres (11,960 cubic yards) of concrete. The bridge was constructed to carry a three-lane road span of 350 long tons (392 short tons; 356 t), and a single-track rail span of 150 long tons (168 short tons; 152 t). The approaches were fixed steel girders; the east was 34 m (112 ft) and the west was 22 m (72 ft). Counterweights were made of hollow concrete weighing 780 long tons (870 short tons; 790 t). Its operating struts were moved by pinions powered by 56-kilowatt (75 hp) electric motors. The bridge was completed at a cost of $918,000 (27 percent higher than the estimated cost of $720,000) and opened in January 1924.
The bridge originally had street car rails running down the center of the road span, but they were never used, and were removed a few years after opening. In 1966, the wood deck was replaced with steel grid, as rainwater absorbed by the deck unbalanced the bridge, straining the lifting gear. In 1979, extensive repairs were made to the superstructure, which had become severely corroded. Following these repairs, the bridge was painted blue. The paint was selected because the oxides of its pigment are the same colour as the paint so that little fading of the colour occurs. The City of Victoria had used the same blue paint for the lamp standards throughout the city.
In 1995, abnormally high temperatures caused the steel decking to expand to the point the bridge would not open or close properly. This necessitated the removal of about 25 mm (1 in) of the decking.
Daily traffic in 2010 was 30,000 trips a day at peak usage, of which 4000 were pedestrians, 3000 cyclists, and 23,000 vehicles. Until 2011, the rail span for the E&N Railway was used twice a day by the Via Rail Dayliner, for trips up Vancouver Island towards Duncan, Nanaimo and Courtenay.
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Johnson Street Bridge
The Johnson Street Bridge is a bascule bridge spanning the Victoria Harbour in Victoria, British Columbia. Four known bridges have spanned the narrows between Victoria's Inner Harbour and Upper Harbour, connecting Johnson Street on the east shore with Esquimalt Road on the west shore. The current bridge is Canada's largest single-leaf bascule bridge. It carries three vehicular traffic lanes, with a pedestrian walkway on its south side, and a multi-use pathway on its north side. The bridge is lit with blue LED lighting as a homage to its predecessor, which was referred to as the "Blue Bridge". It is one of only two road drawbridges on Vancouver Island, the other being the 17th Street Bridge in Courtenay.
The first bridge connecting the west and east shores of the Victoria Harbour was a low wagon bridge, completed in 1855. The bridge blocked marine traffic, and was ultimately dismantled seven years later in 1862 and replaced with a ferry service.
A second bridge, for rail and foot traffic only, was constructed in 1888. This hand-operated swing bridge of limited load capacity was in operation until 1923.
The third Johnson Street Bridge, completed in 1924, was built as two adjacent, independent, heel trunnion bascule bridges. It later became referred to as the "Blue Bridge" or "Old Blue", after it was painted a light blue colour following corrosion repairs in the late 1970s.
The third Johnson Street Bridge was designed under the direction of city engineer Mr. F. M. Preston in 1920. The Strauss Bascule Bridge Company, which held the patents on the design, prepared the plans for the 45 m (148 ft) bascule spans and the operating machinery. The superstructure of the bridge was fabricated in Walkerville, Ontario of 100 tons of steel. The sub-structure was built by the City of Victoria Engineering Department and required 9,144 cubic metres (11,960 cubic yards) of concrete. The bridge was constructed to carry a three-lane road span of 350 long tons (392 short tons; 356 t), and a single-track rail span of 150 long tons (168 short tons; 152 t). The approaches were fixed steel girders; the east was 34 m (112 ft) and the west was 22 m (72 ft). Counterweights were made of hollow concrete weighing 780 long tons (870 short tons; 790 t). Its operating struts were moved by pinions powered by 56-kilowatt (75 hp) electric motors. The bridge was completed at a cost of $918,000 (27 percent higher than the estimated cost of $720,000) and opened in January 1924.
The bridge originally had street car rails running down the center of the road span, but they were never used, and were removed a few years after opening. In 1966, the wood deck was replaced with steel grid, as rainwater absorbed by the deck unbalanced the bridge, straining the lifting gear. In 1979, extensive repairs were made to the superstructure, which had become severely corroded. Following these repairs, the bridge was painted blue. The paint was selected because the oxides of its pigment are the same colour as the paint so that little fading of the colour occurs. The City of Victoria had used the same blue paint for the lamp standards throughout the city.
In 1995, abnormally high temperatures caused the steel decking to expand to the point the bridge would not open or close properly. This necessitated the removal of about 25 mm (1 in) of the decking.
Daily traffic in 2010 was 30,000 trips a day at peak usage, of which 4000 were pedestrians, 3000 cyclists, and 23,000 vehicles. Until 2011, the rail span for the E&N Railway was used twice a day by the Via Rail Dayliner, for trips up Vancouver Island towards Duncan, Nanaimo and Courtenay.
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