Granville Bridge to get facelift
Posted January 12, 2013 8:15 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Years of salt damage and heavy traffic have taken their toll on the Granville Street Bridge and now a rehab project set for March will both extend its life and more importantly, make it able to withstand more severe seismic activity.
The $5.6 million project will replace the isolation bearings on the almost 59-year-old structure and ensure it will won’t be an issue should the city fall victim to an earthquake.
“I wouldn’t doubt that it would do quite fine in a very large earthquake after this upgrade,” says Robert Sexsmith, a retired University of British Columbia professor and civil engineer.
The retrofit will cost roughly a third of the $16.5 million initial cost of the eight-lane crossing, making it a more economic option than a full replacement.
Sexmsith said the bridge should be in fairly good shape structurally and once the city finishes updating and replacing the massive isolation bearings that allow it to gently sway at the base of the 732-metre span, it should be viable well into the future.
“Fifty years from now I suspect it will look just like it does now as long as they continue to maintain it. And there’s no reason that couldn’t be longer, like 100 years,” says Sexsmith.
The bridge is the second oldest of the three spans connecting Vancouver’s downtown, and will celebrate its 59th birthday in February. The Burrard Bridge is the oldest of the trio, opening in 1932 while the more modern Cambie Bridge opened in 1985.
