The William R. Bennett Bridge is a

pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses float (nautical), floats or shallow-draft (hull), draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maxi ...

in the

Okanagan Valley The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Completed on May 25, 2008, the bridge replaced the older

Okanagan Lake Bridge The Okanagan Lake Bridge (also known as the Kelowna Floating Bridge) was a three-lane, long floating bridge in British Columbia, Canada. It crossed Okanagan Lake, connecting the Westside area to Kelowna on the lake's eastern side. Taller boa ...

built in 1958 to link Downtown

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''ki� ...

West Kelowna West Kelowna, formerly known as Westbank and colloquially known as Westside, is a city in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. The city encompasses several distinct neighbourhoods, including Casa Loma, Gellatly, Glenrosa, Lakeview Heights, Shan ...

across

Okanagan Lake Okanagan Lake ( oka, kɬúsx̌nítkw) is a lake in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada. The lake is long, between wide, and has a surface area of 348 km2 (135 sq. mi.). Hydrography Okanagan Lake is called a fjord lake as i ...

as part of

Highway 97 Route 97, or Highway 97, may refer to: Australia - Olympic Dam Highway, South Australia Canada * British Columbia Highway 97 ** British Columbia Highway 97A ** British Columbia Highway 97B ** British Columbia Highway 97C ** British Columb ...

. On April 21, 2005,

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Gordon Campbell Gordon Muir Campbell, (born January 12, 1948) is a retired Canadian diplomat and politician who was the 35th mayor of Vancouver from 1986 to 1993 and the 34th premier of British Columbia from 2001 to 2011. He was the leader of the British Co ...

officially renamed the bridge from the Okanagan Lake Bridge to William R. Bennett Bridge in honour of former Premier

William Richards Bennett William Richards Bennett, (April 14, 1932 – December 3, 2015) was the 27th premier of British Columbia from 1975 to 1986. He was a son of Annie Elizabeth May (Richards) and former Premier, W. A. C. Bennett. He was a 3rd cousin, twice removed, ...

, a native of Kelowna.

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 Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...

for the bridge and another $20 million CAD for the two interchange upgrades on the west side of the lake. 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 SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is a Canadian company based in Montreal that provides engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services to various industries, including mining and metallurgy, oil and gas, environment and water, infrastructure, a ...

a total of $179 million CAD "to design, build, finance, operate, maintain and rehabilitate the bridge".

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:

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 25, 2008 *Q2 2009: Decommission of the old bridge *Q2 2009: Shoreline restoration

Bridge facts

*Extending long in total, the bridge includes a string of long poles holding pontoons supporting an elevated deck. *At the deepest point near the middle of the bridge, the lake is approximately deep *There are a total of 9 concrete pontoons *The pontoons are wide and long *The navigation span on the west side of the bridge is long and provides of clearance between the bridge and the lake *Three lanes are for westbound traffic *Two lanes are for eastbound traffic *An additional wide pedestrian and cyclist pathway exists on the south (eastbound) side of the bridge *The west side of the bridge has a pedestrian/cyclist and vehicle underpass at Campbell Road and another interchange at Westside Road *The Kelowna side of the bridge retains 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 old

was designed to handle 38,000 vehicles daily but in 2005 handled approximately 50,000 vehicles daily *The bridge is maintained by Protrans WRB Bridge, which is a subsidiary of

Gallery

File:WRB bridge pontoon construction.jpg, Construction of concrete pontoon #2 in February 2006 File:WRB bridge road towers on pontoon two.jpg, Roadway towers under construction on top of pontoon #2 in June 2006 File:WRB bridge west approach pile drive.jpg, Pile driving where the west side approach was built File:William R. Bennett Bridge.jpg, Bridge from

, with parts of the original bridge in the foreground File:2010-08 Bennett Bridge Looking East.jpg, Heading eastbound on the completed bridge

References

External links