Two bridges 13052009133 019
Johnson Street Bridge (the Blue Bridge), connects to Victoria's downtown from Vic West and other west side neighbourhoods and municipalities.
There are actually two bridges spanning the city's Inner Harbour - one serving road traffic and the other, on the left of the picture, serving rail.
Numbers of years ago the city assumed liability and the railway reluctantly allowed legal access for cyclists and pedestrians, albeit with an instruction (often ignored) that cyclists dismount while crossing the rail bridge on the 2.5 metre wide platform adjacent to the tracks. The space is inadequate for the thousands of cyclists and pedestrians who cross the bridge every day.
The bridge will be replaced in a project now underway, with design work and the decommissioning of the old bridges only a few months away. The rail bridge will go first and the road bridge will stay in place until the new structure is complete, scheduled for late 2015.
Until 2005, the rail bridge was still the responsibility of Canadian Pacific, the national railway company that built the railways across Canada at the time of confederation back in the 19th century. CP for many years was attempting to abandon the E&N rail service on Vancouver Island and did little to maintain their infrastructure.
Noticeable is the more advanced rust and corrosion on the rail side.
At the end of March, 2011, the city's consulting engineers declared the bridge unsafe for rail. Many of the structural members are near failure due to pack rust that forms in between the plate steel and rivets holding it all together. Maintenance and repair is a difficult, if not a fruitless endeavor that, at best, would squeeze out a few extra months of service for the railway, but for excessive expense. Sort of like painting your old car so it looks nice on the way to the scrapyard.
Without the stresses of heavy rail crossing the bridge, it may still serve cyclists and pedestrians until decommissioning in January, when some creative thinking will be required to help maintain some level of safety and comfort for cyclists crossing the road bridge (pedestrians already have an existing sidewalk).
A complaint from the local media that the city didn't do its job and could have maintained the rail bridge is misplaced. We inherited a structure already in an advanced state of deterioration and its failing condition report informed our decision to replace the bridge. Both the design and age of the bridge, as well as the harsh salt water environment eating away at both the foundation and superstructure have forced our hand. There is little that can be done to augment the bailing wire and duct tape solutions being applied to keep the bridge going for those few months of service left.
Putting more money into the old bridge makes little sense. Best to start making arrangements for the change to come. Rail will be moved to the west side of the bridge in any event and the service is already down for other maintenance work.
Life support for the old bridge is an expensive luxury. The money will be better spent ensuring a sensible transition to allow bridge users to adapt to the next phase of the project.
Two bridges 13052009133 019
Johnson Street Bridge (the Blue Bridge), connects to Victoria's downtown from Vic West and other west side neighbourhoods and municipalities.
There are actually two bridges spanning the city's Inner Harbour - one serving road traffic and the other, on the left of the picture, serving rail.
Numbers of years ago the city assumed liability and the railway reluctantly allowed legal access for cyclists and pedestrians, albeit with an instruction (often ignored) that cyclists dismount while crossing the rail bridge on the 2.5 metre wide platform adjacent to the tracks. The space is inadequate for the thousands of cyclists and pedestrians who cross the bridge every day.
The bridge will be replaced in a project now underway, with design work and the decommissioning of the old bridges only a few months away. The rail bridge will go first and the road bridge will stay in place until the new structure is complete, scheduled for late 2015.
Until 2005, the rail bridge was still the responsibility of Canadian Pacific, the national railway company that built the railways across Canada at the time of confederation back in the 19th century. CP for many years was attempting to abandon the E&N rail service on Vancouver Island and did little to maintain their infrastructure.
Noticeable is the more advanced rust and corrosion on the rail side.
At the end of March, 2011, the city's consulting engineers declared the bridge unsafe for rail. Many of the structural members are near failure due to pack rust that forms in between the plate steel and rivets holding it all together. Maintenance and repair is a difficult, if not a fruitless endeavor that, at best, would squeeze out a few extra months of service for the railway, but for excessive expense. Sort of like painting your old car so it looks nice on the way to the scrapyard.
Without the stresses of heavy rail crossing the bridge, it may still serve cyclists and pedestrians until decommissioning in January, when some creative thinking will be required to help maintain some level of safety and comfort for cyclists crossing the road bridge (pedestrians already have an existing sidewalk).
A complaint from the local media that the city didn't do its job and could have maintained the rail bridge is misplaced. We inherited a structure already in an advanced state of deterioration and its failing condition report informed our decision to replace the bridge. Both the design and age of the bridge, as well as the harsh salt water environment eating away at both the foundation and superstructure have forced our hand. There is little that can be done to augment the bailing wire and duct tape solutions being applied to keep the bridge going for those few months of service left.
Putting more money into the old bridge makes little sense. Best to start making arrangements for the change to come. Rail will be moved to the west side of the bridge in any event and the service is already down for other maintenance work.
Life support for the old bridge is an expensive luxury. The money will be better spent ensuring a sensible transition to allow bridge users to adapt to the next phase of the project.