Golden Ears Bridge
| Golden Ears Bridge | |
|---|---|
Golden Ears Bridge from Langley
|
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| Coordinates | 49°11′48″N 122°39′57″W / 49.1967°N 122.665829°WCoordinates: 49°11′48″N 122°39′57″W / 49.1967°N 122.665829°W |
| Carries | 6 lanes of Golden Ears Way, pedestrians and bicycles |
| Crosses | Fraser River |
| Locale |
Township of Langley Maple Ridge |
| Maintained by | TransLink |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | extradosed bridge |
| Total length | 976 m (2410 m including approaches) |
| Longest span | 244 m |
| History | |
| Designer | Buckland & Taylor |
| Construction start | June 29, 2006 |
| Construction end | June 2009 |
| Construction cost | $808 million |
| Opened | June 16, 2009 (Traffic) |
The Golden Ears Bridge is a six-lane extradosed bridge in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia. It spans the Fraser River, connecting Langley on the south side with Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge on the north side. The bridge opened to traffic on June 16, 2009. The bridge replaced a previous ferry service several kilometers upstream and will be run by a private consortium, the Golden Crossing General Partnership, until June 2041.
The All Electronic Toll bridge, owned by TransLink, has a clearance of 40 m (130 ft), and a total length of 2,410 m (7,910 ft) including approaches. The extradosed bridge incorporates three main spans, each 244 m (801 ft) long and two shoreline spans, each 122 m (400 ft) long for total length of 976 m (3,202 ft) which makes it the longest extradosed bridge in North America. Eight pylons are situated in the river, 4 of which are 90 m (300 ft) high.
The bridge features bike-pedestrian protected lanes on each side. It boasts two golden metal eagle sculptures at the top of the bridge that were fashioned by a German company – after the initial sculptural design by a U.S. firm was abandoned for structural weakness.
The project was named through a community process and reflects the well-known lower Fraser Valley landmark, the Golden Ears peaks, which crown Mount Blanshard in Golden Ears Provincial Park. The successful submission to name the bridge was that of George Tabert, a local pastor.
The bridge was constructed by a joint venture of CH2M Hill and Bilfinger Berger called Golden Crossing Group, at a final cost of $808 million. The construction project, officially launched in June 2006, created 14 kilometres of new road.Golden Ears Way has direct connections to Lougheed Highway, Maple Meadows Way, 113B Avenue, 200th Street, 176th Street (Highway 15) and the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1). The completed bridge opened at 2:00AM on June 16, 2009.
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