Barra Strait Bridge

About

The Barra Strait Bridge is a Canadian road bridge crossing the Barra Strait of Bras d'Or Lake, carrying Nova Scotia Route 223 between Iona, Victoria County, on the West side, and Grand Narrows, Cape Breton County (Cape Breton Regional Municipality) on the east side. The bridge incorporates a double leaf bascule section at its eastern end to permit the continued passage of marine traffic through the strait.

A ferry service operated across the Barra Strait, between Grand Narrows and Iona, starting in 1847, and continued for the next 146 years.

In the late 1880s the Intercolonial Railway of Canada bridged the strait with the Grand Narrows Bridge (also known as the Barra Strait Railway Bridge), which is still the longest railway bridge in the province, crossing between Uniacke Point to the west and Kelly Point to the east.

The Nova Scotia Department of Highways took over the Barra Strait motor vehicles ferry service in 1927 and continued the service between Grand Narrows and Iona. By the late 1980s the ferry service was carrying over 90,000 vehicles a year across the Barra Strait.

The C. Monty MacMillan was the last ferry used for the Grand Narrows–Iona crossing, in service from 1971 to 1993.

On 21 April 1979, in a public meeting held in Iona, the then Premier of Nova Scotia, John Buchanan announced that a permanent crossing over the Barra Strait would be built, to be completed within four years. Both a high level bridge and a causeway with an opening span were to be considered, with the high span estimated to cost $20 million, and the causeway and swing bridge option, $15 million.

A ferry service operated across the Barra Strait, between Grand Narrows and Iona, starting in 1847, and continued for the next 146 years.

In the late 1880s the Intercolonial Railway of Canada bridged the strait with the Grand Narrows Bridge (also known as the Barra Strait Railway Bridge), which is still the longest railway bridge in the province, crossing between Uniacke Point to the west and Kelly Point to the east.

The Nova Scotia Department of Highways took over the Barra Strait motor vehicles ferry service in 1927 and continued the service between Grand Narrows and Iona. By the late 1980s the ferry service was carrying over 90,000 vehicles a year across the Barra Strait.

The C. Monty MacMillan was the last ferry used for the Grand Narrows–Iona crossing, in service from 1971 to 1993.

On 21 April 1979, in a public meeting held in Iona, the then Premier of Nova Scotia, John Buchanan announced that a permanent crossing over the Barra Strait would be built, to be completed within four years. Both a high level bridge and a causeway with an opening span were to be considered, with the high span estimated to cost $20 million, and the causeway and swing bridge option, $15 million.

Planning for the new Barra Strait Crossing was carried out during 1983–85 by Fenco Engineers who had the contract for the bridge design. The structure was designed by the structural engineering department at Fenco (Fenco was later bought out by Lavalin which eventually merged with Surveyer, Nenniger & Chenevert Consulting Engineers (SNC) to become SNC-Lavalin ).

The Barra Strait Bridge is a girder bridge design, consisting of steel girders with a reinforced concrete deck, supported on reinforced concrete piers. The bridge incorporates a double leaf bascule section at its eastern end to permit the continued passage of marine traffic through the strait. Fenco Engineers also designed the mechanical equipment for operating the lift mechanism for the two leaves of the bridge, and for the leaf locks at the toe of the bridge leaves.

The Barra Strait Bridge was constructed just 70 m (230 ft) to the northeast of the existing Grand Narrows Bridge.

The first work done for the new bridge was excavation and road work to create road approaches to the new bridge location. The approaches on the Grand Narrows side were completed by October 1983 with work on the approaches on the Iona side completed by 1985.

The bridge itself was built in phases, spread out over a number of years:

The first phase included the bridge abutments and four of the bridge piers sunk to the bottom of the strait, over 90 feet (27 m) below.

The second phase of construction of the bridge included the double leaf bascule, the Grand Narrows approach span, and the fendering system to guide shipping between the existing rail bridge and the new highway bridge. It was carried out through the summer of 1989 by VanZutphen Brothers Construction Ltd. Construction began on the bascule in April of that year. The first 12 feet (3.7 m) of the foundations for the bascule were built on a barge and the remaining 48 feet (15 m) were built in the water. The mechanical and electrical work for the bascule were completed that summer.

The third and final phase of the bridge construction included the installation of the girders for the five remaining spans, the bridge deck and superstructure. The waterproofing and paving of the deck, gravelling and paving of the connector roads were completed along with the proper signs.

There was a controversy in awarding the third phase tender which ended up at the Nova Scotia Supreme Court. Originally the tenders were limited to prestressed concrete but this was amended to include tenders on a steel alternative. To be acceptable the steel alternative had to show a substantial savings over the concrete design, inclusive of the future painting costs of a steel design. J. Anderson of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court noted in his decision: