William R. Bennett Bridge

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Okanagan Lake Bridge
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
Maintained by	SNC-Lavalin Inc.
Design	Pontoon bridge
Longest span	44 meters (144 ft)
Clearance below	18 meters (59 ft)
AADT	50,000 vehicles
Opening date	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 1958 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.

1 Construction budget
2 Construction schedule
3 Bridge facts
4 Gallery
5 References
6 External links

[edit] 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.^[1]

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".^[2]

[edit] 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

[edit] 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 lake^[3]
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 daily^[4]