William R. Bennett Bridge

About

The William R. Bennett Bridge is a pontoon bridge in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada. Completed on May 25, 2008, the bridge replaced the older Okanagan Lake Bridge built in 1958 to link Downtown Kelowna to West Kelowna across Okanagan Lake as part of Highway 97. On April 21, 2005, Premier Gordon Campbell officially renamed the bridge, then the Okanagan Lake Bridge, the William R. Bennett Bridge in honour of former premier Bill Bennett, a native of Kelowna.

The first press release from the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation to include budget information was in 2003. At that time, the project was estimated to cost CA$ 100 million for the bridge and another $20 million for the two interchange upgrades on the west side of the lake.

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

- April 2005: Arthon Construction begins bridge end preloads from rock on Westside Road

- May 2005: Arthon completes east side preload

- June 2005: SNC-Lavalin 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 Okanagan Lake

- Q3 2006: Roadwork on both approaches begins

- Q1 2007: Bridge deck construction begins

- Q4 2007: Roadwork on both approaches is completed

- Q1 2008: Bridge deck construction is completed

- Official opening scheduled for May 25, 2008

- Q2 2009: Decommission of the old bridge

- Extending 1,060 metres (3,478 ft) long in total, the bridge includes a 690-metre (2,264 ft) string of long poles holding pontoons supporting an elevated deck

- At the deepest point near the middle of the bridge, the lake is approximately 60 metres (197 ft) deep

- There are a total of 9 concrete pontoons

- The pontoons are 25 metres (82 ft) wide and 60 to 90 metres (197 to 295 ft) long

- The navigation span on the west side of the bridge is 44 metres (144 ft) long and provides 18 metres (59 ft) of clearance between the bridge and the lake

- An additional 1.3 metres (4 ft 3 in) wide pedestrian and cyclist pathway exists on the south (eastbound) side of the bridge