June 8, 2009

Stimulus Spending

The race is on to replace aging Vancouver Island bridge

SHANNON MONEO

correspondent

In less than two years, a new double-leaf bascule bridge could replace the 85-year-old Johnson Street Bridge that spans Victoria’s busy Inner Harbour.

“This is probably one of the largest capital projects the city has undertaken,” said Mike Lai, the City of Victoria’s assistant director of engineering.

“For the city, it is a big deal. It’s a very significant project.”

To pay for the $63-million project, the city applied for one-third funding from the federal government’s $4-billion Infrastructure Stimulus Fund prior to the May 1 deadline.

The remaining $42 million cost is anticipated to be split among two levels of government.

The City of Victoria intends to borrow $21 million, and the province will chip in the half.

“We feel confident we’ll get the (federal) money,” said Lai, who has been with the city since March 2008.

“This is a good project.”

If federal dollars are secured, the city must comply with federal demands, which include substantially finishing the new bridge by March 31, 2011.

The city should get word no later than August.

There is the possibility the bridge project – competing with hundreds of infrastructure projects from across Canada – won’t receive federal funding.

In that case, the project will still proceed, but the completion date will be bumped one year later to 2012, Lai said.

Nevertheless, work has started.

On May 28, requests for expressions of interest for an owner’s engineer team were released.

Deadline for applicants is June 10.

The city will then establish a short-list of candidates who will be asked to submit a proposal.

Lai expects the engineer team will be chosen by late June.

The city needs to retain engineers who can supply technical advice and do preliminary design work, Lai said.

The team will also help to assemble procurement documents for a design/build contract.

Tight timelines preclude having a design/bid/build process, Lai added.

What’s added to the time crunch is that construction in the water can only be done from July to February of each year because fish return to spawning grounds.

In addition to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans regulations, the city has to deal with First Nations’ archeological concerns, geotechnical matters and Transport Canada’s Navigable Waters regulations.

To assist with the many approvals required by regulators, the city is hiring a consultant.

Work in the water will start no later than November.

“There’s advance work we need to do,” Lai explained.

One priority would be cement and steel foundation construction.

Almost 800 short-term jobs will be created, based on 12 jobs for every $1 million of construction, he said.

The current 120-metre long structure, nicknamed the “big blue bridge,” is a single-leaf bascule which spans the Inner Harbour.

To allow ships to travel through the harbour, one end of the bridge rises while a counterweight lowers on the opposite end.

The original idea was to replace the bridge with a similar single-leaf bascule design. But, during initial planning, it was determined that the bridge would be widened from its current 20-21 metres to 25-26 metres to allow for wider train rail and bike lanes.

A 26-metre wide, single-leaf bascule, pivoting on one end on a pin-like hinge, would create a significant wind load on the pivot said Lai, who graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Manitoba in 1982. The latest recommendation calls for a double-leaf bascule which opens in the middle of the bridge.

The mechanical system would then carry half the load. Rehabilitating the 85-year-old rusted bridge, at a cost of roughly $25 million, was considered but rejected.

“We could buy us 40 years of life versus 100 years of life with a new bridge,” Lai explained.

A new bridge, including the deck superstructure, piers and abutments will cost $29.3 million. Realigning roads and approaches adds $11.3 million.

Engineering and design will cost about $5.3 million.

A substantial $13.2 million contingency will be set aside because unexpected expenses could surface.

Foundation costs may rise depending on how drilling proceeds. The deeper the foundation, the higher the price.

Securing and building approach roads could hike project expenses.

Re-establishing utility lines could jolt costs.

And surprises, such as finding contaminated soil or First Nations’ burial sites, could affect the bottom line.

Each day, the big blue bridge, linking Victoria to Esquimalt, carries more than 30,000 vehicles as well as pedestrians and cyclists.

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