As TransLink prepares to close Pattullo Bridge for weekend repairs, a New Westminster resident is suggesting a way to extend the life of the bridge and avoid construction of a new crossing.
TransLink is closing the Pattullo Bridge to all vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists three weekends this summer so it can carry out maintenance and repairs on the aging bridge between 9 p.m. on Friday and 3 a.m. on Monday. The first closure takes place July 20 and 21, with additional work being done Aug. 10 and 11 and Aug. 24 and 25.
According to TransLink, the closures will allow crews to repair sections of the concrete deck and repave portions of the 76-year-old bridge. The closures will also give TransLink a chance to review the condition of the bridge's driving surface and make any necessary repairs.
The closures come at a time when New Westminster resident Justin Ball is proposing a method of construction for rehabilitating Pattullo Bridge that could help TransLink avoid the cost of building a new bridge and eliminate the impacts a new alignment could have on local residents. He recently met with Mayor Wayne Wright and city engineering director Jim Lowrie to discuss a fabric formwork technology that's been used successfully on structures in other parts of the world.
"This is a very cheap and immediate fix, instead of the grief of building a new bridge," said Ball, who is familiar with the process from work he did in England 20 years ago. "I am hoping the city takes it forward. I am hoping there will be some public interest."
Wright said he will be taking the information to TransLink, as one of the bridge options being considered is rehabilitation.
"The information he brought forward, I thought was quite interesting," he said. "It's for the reclamation and fixing of old bridges in Europe."
Wright suspects TransLink's engineers already know about the fabric formwork technology as it's been done in Europe for many years.
"I like it because it is a historic bridge," Ball said. "I like architecture. I like historical things. It is a piece of New Westminster. It is repairable."
Ball couldn't say whether or not the remedy he was proposing would address seismic issues related to the bridge, saying that was something that engineers would have to consider.
Wright recently met with the province's new Transportation Minister Todd Stone to discuss transportation issues such as the Pattullo Bridge.
TransLink has worked with the cities of New Westminster and Surrey to develop 25 alternatives for the Pattullo Bridge and held community consultation sessions to get input from residents. The 1937 Pattullo Bridge doesn't meet current seismic standards or roadway guidelines for lane widths and curvature, according to TransLink.
After consulting with the community in June, TransLink planned to combine the public information with the technical and financial considerations, and identify options that should be studied further. TransLink expects to consult with community members in the fall, with the goal of identifying one or two alternatives that the cities and TransLink can agree on as possible solutions.
Although all 25 options are being put out to the public for consideration, staff from TransLink, New Westminster and Surrey have identified six alternatives they believe merit further evaluation. These include: rehabilitating the existing Pattullo Bridge to three or four lanes; building a new four-, five- or six-lane bridge at the existing crossing; or building a new four-lane Surrey to Coquitlam Bridge (with a two- or three-lane rehabilitation to the existing Pattullo Bridge).
