William R. Bennett Bridge

The William R. Bennett Bridge is a pontoon bridge in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada. Completed on May 25, 2008, the bridge replaced the older Okanagan Lake Bridge built in 1958 to link Downtown Kelowna to West Kelowna across Okanagan Lake as part of Highway 97.

On April 21, 2005, Premier Gordon Campbell officially renamed the bridge, then the Okanagan Lake Bridge, the William R. Bennett Bridge in honour of former premier Bill Bennett, a native of Kelowna.

Construction budget
The first press release from the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation to include budget information was in 2003. At that time, the project was estimated to cost CA$100million for the bridge and another $20million for the two interchange upgrades on the west side of the lake.

By June 29, 2005, the cost of the bridge had increased from the previous estimate of $100million to $144million "due to dramatic increases in the cost of construction materials and labour", which included significant increases in the cost of concrete, steel, and fuel. Over the next 30 years, the province of British Columbia expected to pay SNC-Lavalin a total of $179million "to design, build, finance, operate, maintain and rehabilitate the bridge".

Construction schedule

 * April 2005: Arthon Construction begins bridge end preloads from rock on Westside Road
 * May 2005: Arthon completes east side preload
 * June 2005: SNC-Lavalin is chosen to design, build, finance and operate the new bridge
 * July 2005: Construction begins on a dry dock near Bear Creek Provincial Park, where the bridge pontoons will be built
 * Q3 2005: Arthon completes preloads on west side of Lake Okanagan
 * Q3 2005: Graving dock ready
 * Q3 2006: Roadwork on both approaches begins
 * Q4 2006: First four pontoons in place
 * Q1 2007: Bridge deck construction begins
 * Q4 2007: All pontoons in place
 * Q4 2007: Roadwork on both approaches is completed
 * Q1 2008: Bridge deck construction is completed
 * Q2 2008: Test and commission
 * Q2 2008: Bridge officially opens
 * Official opening scheduled for May 25, 2008
 * Q2 2009: Decommission of the old bridge
 * Q2 2009: Shoreline restoration

Bridge facts

 * Extending 1,060 m long in total, the bridge includes a 690 m string of long poles holding pontoons supporting an elevated deck
 * At the deepest point near the middle of the bridge, the lake is approximately 60 m deep
 * There are a total of 9 concrete pontoons
 * The pontoons are 25 m wide and 60 to 90 m long
 * The navigation span on the west side of the bridge is 44 m long and provides 18 m of clearance between the bridge and the lake
 * Three lanes are for westbound traffic
 * Two lanes are for eastbound traffic
 * An additional 1.3 m wide pedestrian and cyclist pathway exists on the south (eastbound) side of the bridge
 * The west side of the bridge has a pedestrian, cyclist, and vehicle underpass at Campbell Road and another interchange at Westside Road
 * The Kelowna side of the bridge retains the existing pedestrian and cyclist underpass between City Park and Lake Avenue
 * The new bridge was designed to handle up to 80,000 vehicles daily; the old Okanagan Lake Bridge was designed to handle 38,000 vehicles daily but, in 2005, handled approximately 50,000 vehicles daily
 * The bridge is maintained by Protrans WRB Bridge, which is a subsidiary of SNC-Lavalin