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SkyBridge
Coordinates	49°12′20″N 122°53′49″W / 49.20556°N 122.89694°W / 49.20556; -122.89694
Carries	Two tracks of the Expo Line and a maintenance track
Crosses	Fraser River
Locale	New Westminster Surrey
Characteristics
Total length	616 metres (2,021 ft)
Height	123 metres (404 ft)
Longest span	340 metres (1,115 ft)
Clearance below	45 metres (148 ft)
History
Opened	March 16, 1990; 34 years ago (1990-03-16)
Location

The SkyBridge is a cable-stayed railway bridge in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Built between 1987 and 1989, it carries trains of the Expo Line of TransLink's SkyTrain across the Fraser River between New Westminster and Surrey. The SkyBridge opened for revenue use on March 16, 1990, with the second half of the Phase II extension of SkyTrain to Scott Road station.

History

Construction of the bridge began on October 28, 1987. The first half of the bridge heading towards Surrey was completed first, with the New Westminster half being completed on March 19, 1990. The bridge was built by Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Kerkhoff Construction, a Chilliwack-based construction company with a total cost of CA$28 million, or $64.2 million in 2023 dollars. Construction was completed by September 1988, and testing began in 1989.

Details

The SkyBridge has two tracks carrying Expo Line trains which run between King George station in Surrey and Waterfront station in Downtown Vancouver. A third set of rails in the middle, not connected to the SkyTrain tracks, is used by maintenance crews to truck equipment back and forth on the bridge. The deck is composed of 104 pre-fabricated concrete sections which were built in Richmond, transported via barge, and lifted into place with heavy machinery. When constructed, the concrete sections were glued together with an epoxy resin. The bridge does not carry road traffic, which uses the neighbouring Pattullo Bridge instead.

The bridge has two 123-metre (404 ft) tall towers and carries trains 45 metres (148 ft) above the Fraser River and valley. The main span is 340 metres (1,120 ft) and the total length is 616 metres (2,021 ft). The bridge was the longest cable-supported transit-only bridge in the world from its opening in 1990 to 2019, it has since been surpassed by the Egongyan Rail Transit Bridge, the Nanjimen Yangtze River Bridge and tied with the Gaojia Huayuan Jialing River Rail Transit Bridge, all in Chongqing, China.

Delayed opening

The opening of the bridge faced some delay as the non-unionized consortium was accused of underbidding unionized firms. In response, labour organizers pressured other unions to boycott the project altogether. The issue was the climax of a series of defeats for construction unions as a result of the Social Credit Party's preference for non-union workers. The situation drew ire from the BC and Yukon Building and Construction Trades Council, who called it a "hot site".

See also

• List of crossings of the Fraser River
• List of bridges in British Columbia

Notes

1. "The Buzzer" (PDF). www.translink.ca. BC Transit. December 4, 1987. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
2. "SkyTrain & SkyBridge" (PDF). New Westminster Parks, Culture & Recreation. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
3. ^ "Heritage Database". New Westminster Heritage. New Westminster Public Library. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
4. 1688 to 1923: Geloso, Vincent, A Price Index for Canada, 1688 to 1850 (December 6, 2016). Afterwards, Canadian inflation numbers based on Statistics Canada tables 18-10-0005-01 (formerly CANSIM 326-0021) "Consumer Price Index, annual average, not seasonally adjusted". Statistics Canada. Retrieved April 17, 2021. and table 18-10-0004-13 "Consumer Price Index by product group, monthly, percentage change, not seasonally adjusted, Canada, provinces, Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
5. "Crew completes SkyBridge link: $28-million bridge faces rigorous tests". The Vancouver Sun. ProQuest. September 8, 1988. pp. A3. ISSN 0832-1299.
6. Davis, Chuck (2011). The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver. Coastal Publishing. p. 444. ISBN 978-1550175332.
7. Lee, Jeff (September 7, 1988). "Skybridge last link to get lift during ceremony". The Vancouver Sun. pp. B6.
8. "Vancouver SkyTrain, Canada". railway-technology. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
9. "Skytrain Bridge". Buckland & Taylor Ltd. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
10. ^ Bramham, Daphne (February 15, 1989). "Politicians' battles, labor woes overshadow SkyTrain advance". The Vancouver Sun. Postmedia Network Inc. pp. A3. ISSN 0832-1299.
11. ^ "SkyBridge opening protested". The Tri-City News. CNW Group Ltd. Gale Onefile. August 2, 2008.

References

• Bridges of Greater Vancouver

External links

• Illustration of the SkyBridge
• Crossing the SkyBridge (YouTube Video)

• 1989 establishments in British Columbia
• Bridges completed in 1989
• Bridges in Greater Vancouver
• Bridges over the Fraser River
• Buildings and structures in New Westminster
• Buildings and structures in Surrey, British Columbia
• Transport in New Westminster
• Transport in Surrey, British Columbia
• Cable-stayed bridges in Canada
• Expo Line (SkyTrain)
• Railway bridges in British Columbia
• Rapid transit bridges