small update

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6172/6196205552_1ee55f6c1f_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tranbc/6196205552/)
Port Mann Cranes at Sunset (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tranbc/6196205552/) by TranBC (http://www.flickr.com/people/tranbc/), on Flickr

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6172/6195692767_52e61421d7_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tranbc/6195692767/)
Port Mann Cranes at Sunset (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tranbc/6195692767/) by TranBC (http://www.flickr.com/people/tranbc/), on Flickr

Pattullo Bridge rebuild dogged by delays


By Jeff Nagel - BC Local News
Published: November 14, 2011 5:00 PM
Updated: November 14, 2011 5:16 PM

http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/16781BCLN2007Pattullobridge-7web.jpg


A new and likely tolled Pattullo Bridge won't open before 2018 at the earliest, according to internal TransLink estimates.

That timeline calling for procurement in 2013 and a construction start in 2015 is contained in reports obtained by Black Press under Freedom of Information and amounts to a three-year delay for the project.

But even those dates are starting to look doubtful because TransLink is now more than a year behind schedule in launching a promised round of public consultations on the new bridge's design.

The delay is largely due to months of wrangling between TransLink officials, who insist a new bridge is needed, and the province's transportation ministry, which argued as recently as last spring to instead refurbish the existing 74-year-old bridge to save money and avoid the need for tolls.

TransLink spokesperson Erin Dermer said outreach sessions are being planned by the end of this year to update the public on the status of the project in advance of formal consultations.

"Our plan is to undertake public consultations in the early spring of 2012," she said.

Those consultations had been originally set for September of 2010 until the province asked they be postponed while ministry staff reviewed the plans.

Dermer said TransLink's decision last May to build a new bridge has not wavered.

"Our intention is certainly to replace the bridge," she said.

She said it's "premature" to discuss tolls but a staff report says the new bridge will be "a toll bridge in the absence of alternative senior government funding."

No decision has been made on whether TransLink will propose building a four- or six-lane new bridge and Dermer could not say whether that will happen in time for the spring consultations.

"We are evaluating both the four- and six-lane options," she said, adding TransLink is working closely with staff from both the cities of Surrey and New Westminster.

Also still to be determined is the alignment of the new bridge and how it would connect to the South Fraser Perimeter Road in Surrey and routes through New Westminster.

A cost-benefit analysis tabled by consultants in March found a six-lane replacement bridge will provide the most value and best connections. It would also allow the potential for some bus- or truck-only lanes.

A four-lane replacement would make the notoriously narrow bridge safer but would deliver only "modest" traffic flow improvements and wouldn't provide capacity for growth.

TransLink officials had vowed in 2010 to fast-track the bridge and said then it could open as soon as 2015.

It's been nearly 10 years since an ICBC report flagging safety concerns with speeders on the Pattullo Bridge first spurred politicians to look for ways to make it safer or rebuild it....


read more: http://www.surreyleader.com/news/133849788.html

Just Past Half Way

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7022/6438149925_2bca9ec934_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdseyeview/6438149925/)
old and new (http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdseyeview/6438149925/) by The Black Azar (http://www.flickr.com/people/birdseyeview/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6429360707_ce84b71485_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/petenator/6429360707/)
tower (http://www.flickr.com/photos/petenator/6429360707/) by petetaylor (http://www.flickr.com/people/petenator/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/6419712179_597a8156be_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/petenator/6419712179/)
Port Mann (http://www.flickr.com/photos/petenator/6419712179/) by petetaylor (http://www.flickr.com/people/petenator/), on Flickr



http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6502697575_e7ab60024a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/systemofadale/6502697575/)
IMGP0092 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/systemofadale/6502697575/) by systemofadale (http://www.flickr.com/people/systemofadale/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7162/6495744701_76f5b7e72e_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/donsca/6495744701/)
_DWS1172 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/donsca/6495744701/) by Donsca (http://www.flickr.com/people/donsca/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7145/6495744351_d15eeb8b09_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/donsca/6495744351/)
Just Past Half Way (http://www.flickr.com/photos/donsca/6495744351/) by Donsca (http://www.flickr.com/people/donsca/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7035/6555463903_7647974a98_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/marsupialman/6555463903/)
west towards port mann bridge from westwood plateau (http://www.flickr.com/photos/marsupialman/6555463903/) by mr. bongohead (http://www.flickr.com/people/marsupialman/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7033/6562125091_9a920662af_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobkh/6562125091/)
CIMG0509 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobkh/6562125091/) by Bob_2006 (http://www.flickr.com/people/bobkh/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7156/6562128333_4943a596b1_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobkh/6562128333/)
CIMG0510 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobkh/6562128333/) by Bob_2006 (http://www.flickr.com/people/bobkh/), on Flickr

latest updates from gateway project's cam



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good progress...!

taken with my cellphone.

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accident at the new bridge today!

Crane drops section of Port Mann bridge into river

A special gantry crane tipped off its tracks on the Port Mann Bridge construction project on Friday morning and dropped a segment of the bridge into the Fraser River.

Spokesman Max Logan said the gantry is secure and nobody was hurt, but a 90-tonne section of the bridge deck it was moving into place is now in the Fraser River.

The segment struck a pile as it fell and is now completely submerged and it is unclear if the segment can be recovered.

The bridge segments are brought in by barge and lifted into place by the special 720 tonne horizontal gantry crane, which is also called a segment launcher.

Logan said one of the supports for the gantry appears to have been crushed and the gantry pitched forward.

It is unclear how much delay this will cause to the project, but the contractor Kiewit is responsible for any costs associated with the delay.

The Trans Canada Highway remains open on the old Port Mann Bridge and there are no reports of any injuries.

When completed the $3.3 billion bridge will provide 10-lane crossing of the Fraser River for the Trans Canada Highway east of Vancouver. It is scheduled to be completed in 2013.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/02/10/bc-port-mann-crane-collapse.html

here are the photos.


http://www.vancouversun.com/6134249.bin?size=620x400s
The blue leg of a yellow gantry crane has collapsed at the Port Mann Bridge. No one was injured in the accident Friday morning.


http://www.vancouversun.com/6134038.bin?size=620x400s

http://www.vancouversun.com/6134066.bin?size=620x400s

http://www.vancouversun.com/Crane+collapses+Port+Mann+dropping+tonnes+concrete+decking+into+Fraser/6133636/story.html

Golden Ears Bridge traffic approaching forecast numbers


Maple Ridge mayor might support tolling all bridges in the region

By Maria Rantanen, The Times January 12, 2012


METRO VANCOUVER -- Crossings on the Golden Ears Bridge climbed steadily throughout 2011.

With an increase of 13.4 per cent in the first nine months, it's getting close to the number forecast when the bridge was initially planned.

The total number of trips from January to September 2011 was about 7.3 million - 630,000 lower than budgeted for the year.

Daily averages went up about 3,500 compared to the first nine months of 2010, for example, in September 2010, the daily average was 25,800 whereas in September 2011, this figure was 29,500.

Traffic volume is approaching the "low end" of what was projected in 2004 when the bridge was being planned, according to TransLink spokesperson Ken Hardie.

Currently the Golden Ears Bridge is the only tolled bridge in the Lower Mainland, but soon tolls will be in place on the rebuilt Port Mann Bridge.

Adding tolls to all bridges in the region might be one way of funding transit, said Maple Ridge Mayor Ernie Daykin.

Daykin said he'd be willing to look at a toll on every bridge across the Lower Mainland to pay for transit, pointing out that tolls are not a new concept and many regions around North America and Europe have tolls on roads and bridges....



Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Golden+Ears+Bridge+traffic+approaching+forecast+numbers/5986557/story.html#ixzz1m32hRdhe

There is consideration that the Pattullo Bridge will need to be replaced altogether in the future. How many lanes can a replacement bridge have compared to the four lanes in the existing bridge?

the new bridge probably needs to have at least 6 lanes in order to make any significant improvement over the existing bridge.

3.3 Billion for that tiny bridge? WTF , why is it so high?

^^New Port Mann Bridge looks like it's gonna cost half or two-thirds of that amount. Cost of construction is $2.46 billion. And the new bridge is gonna have ten lanes, so it must not look "peewee" at all; a highway with ten lanes must count as "major leagues".

Actually, the cost of the new bridge is 1.5 billion and the rest of the 3.3 billion goes to the improvement and widening the highways, interchanges that are connected to the new bridge.

Pattullo Bridge plan assumes six lanes, two for trucks


By Jeff Nagel - Surrey North Delta Leader
Published: February 20, 2012 9:00 AM
Updated: February 20, 2012 9:56 AM

http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/46382surreyPattullobridge-7web.jpg


TransLink aims to open a new and presumably tolled Pattullo Bridge by 2018 and it now wants public comment on design options.

The two-year consultation process getting underway is shaping up to be a tussle between Surrey and New Westminster over how big a bridge is needed.

Surrey's mayor has demanded a six-lane bridge – which TransLink also leans toward – but many in New Westminster fear it would pour too much traffic into their already congested city, resulting in gridlock.

Some suggest the bridge be angled further northeast to it bypass New Westminster altogether and connect better to Coquitlam and Highway 1.

That option has been ruled out, TransLink roads director Sany Zein said, because Burnaby- or New West-bound traffic would have to detour too far, more roadwork would be needed and the river there is wider, doubling the bridge's price.

He said TransLink's base case calls for a six-lane bridge – four lanes for general purpose traffic and two reserved for trucks.

"We are building a structure that will serve the region for the next 100 years and we are looking at two growing cities on either shore," Zein said. "We believe the growth is coming regardless."

Trucks would stay in the outside goods movement priority lanes, which TransLink would connect to Major Road Network routes. Trucks would be discouraged from taking local streets.

TransLink rules out banning trucks from the bridge, saying it has a mandate to ensure goods movement through the region.

The new Pattullo would connect to King George Boulevard, Scott Road and the South Fraser Perimeter Road on the Surrey side, and Royal Avenue, McBride Boulevard and Columbia Street East on the New West side.

Once public input is in, TransLink would decide on a configuration and move to detailed design work and an environmental assessment, followed by a construction start in 2016.

If all goes well, Zein said, the bridge might open in late 2017, but added 2018 is the target.

The cost is estimated at $800 million to $1 billion, depending on connection options...


Read more:http://www.surreyleader.com/news/139714613.html

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photos from gateway projects web cams.

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photos from bc gateway web cams

Surrey, New Westminster Mayors question more traffic on the Port Mann Bridge



By Tara Carman, Vancouver SunApril 6, 2012 9:02 PM


The B.C. Transportation Ministry plans to put up signs advising drivers of alternate routes to the tolled Port Mann Bridge when it opens in December, but local mayors warn this means diverting more traffic over an already crowded and accident-prone Pattullo.

“When we look at the Pattullo Bridge, the condition it’s in, how narrow it is, and the issues that we’ve had with that bridge for a number of years, I don’t think it’s a viable option,” said Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts, adding she has had “no conversation whatsoever” with the province about how the alternate routing strategy is going to be rolled out.

New Westminster Mayor Wayne Wright, who also said he had no conversation with the province over the issue, called the plan “ridiculous.”

“There’s no room ... if more traffic comes, it just means longer waits,” he said, adding that he avoids the Pattullo himself because it is curvy, narrow and trucks sometimes have to straddle two lanes, making other drivers nervous. The 75-year-old bridge is slated for replacement in 2018 and Wright speculated that if it takes too much more traffic, it may not last that long.

However, traffic modelling completed during the environmental assessment process for the new Port Mann suggested long-term traffic on the Pattullo will increase by only one per cent more than what it would be if there was no Port Mann project, the Ministry of Transportation said in a statement. That same modelling showed no increase in traffic on the Alex Fraser Bridge as a result of the Port Mann toll, the statement said.

A new section of the South Fraser Perimeter Road, between 136th Street and 176th Street in Surrey, is also due to open in December.

“While the Pattullo Bridge is likely to see more traffic during the first few days or weeks after the Port Mann opens, we expect that within a few weeks, traffic patterns will return to normal as drivers decide to take advantage of the travel time savings offered by the Port Mann,” the statement said.


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Surrey+Westminster+Mayors+question+more+traffic+Port+Mann+Bridge/6423127/story.html#ixzz1rKFyZcGg

Interesting story... Will there some day be plans for a new Pattullo?

^^ Yes, read my post #516. :D

Photos taken by me last week.


http://i990.photobucket.com/albums/af28/Hongkongese/downtown/IMG_6869.jpg

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taken last week.


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Old (ish) news, but here's a nice overhead rendering of the new Cape Horn interchange ...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2699/4309831237_c1bc895040_b.jpg

I find it easy to stare at this for hours on end, studying how it works.:)