August 19, 2010

PORT METRO VANCOUVER

A rendering shows what the new rail bridge and underpass in North Vancouver will look like.

Construction begins on new railway at Port Metro Vancouver

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

VANCOUVER

Port Metro Vancouver has started construction of a new railway bridge and underpass to relieve a transportation bottleneck and upgrade infrastructure at port facilities in North Vancouver.

The contract for construction of the Lynn Creek Bridge and Brooksbank Underpass was awarded by Port Metro Vancouver (PMV) to Gateway Infrastructure Group (GIG) last month.

The site preparation was completed by a contractor from the Tsleil–WauTuth First Nation. Construction started in late July.

“Building a bridge in an aquatic environment is one of the biggest challenges for this project because it requires the usual environmental controls and doing work within a specific time corridor,” said Mike Bevan-Pritchard, spokesperson for GIG.

Construction of the new rail bridge over Lynn Creek involved a number of unavoidable disturbances, such as clearing the banks of the creek and the addition of pile-supported piers and abutments within the creek bed.

Construction has to take place between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30 to meet environmental standards

“Outside of this window, work can be done in an aquatic environment with proper mitigation,” he said. “We are putting in two coffer dams to build the two abutments for the bridge.”

The disturbances will result in lost fish habitat.

The port is compensating for this loss through the creation of new habitat in the project’s vicinity, as is required by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

The new bridge will be about 70 metres long and 28 metres wide, and will accommodate up to six new rail tracks.

The existing bridge was built in 1967 and is about 61 metres in length and 25 metres wide. It has only five rail tracks.

There will be about one metre separating the new and existing structures.

Earthen embankments will be constructed at the approaches to both bridge abutments.

The piers and abutments of the new bridge will also be of similar design to the existing structure.

However, slightly larger diameter steel pipe piles may be used on the new structure to expedite construction.

Riprap rock boulders will be placed around the abutments of both bridges to prevent further riverbank erosion.

“The challenge on the underpass has more to do with traffic control and maintaining access to the port during construction,” said Bevan-Pritchard.

The expansion of the Brooksbank Avenue underpass will allow ongoing vehicle access to Lynnterm West Terminal and other businesses along Brooksbank Avenue south.

The parking area and public access for the District of North Vancouver’s Harbourview Park is being relocated.

A grade-separated pedestrian crossing of the rail tracks is also being constructed to provide a trail link between Harbourview Park and the Lynn Creek corridor.

“The construction of a new rail bridge over Lynn Creek next to the existing bridge is to accommodate what is going on at Neptune and Lynnterm West Terminals,” said PMV spokesperson Sarah McPherson.

“The North Shore Trade Area is focused on rail improvement. One of the key services is for the longer trains that are in use today.”

The rail bridge and underpass are the first bottleneck for all bulk and break bulk rail traffic, and impacts all commodities entering or departing the North Shore.

Four of the new tracks will service the Neptune site, enabling that terminal to increase its coal and potash shipping capacity by accommodating a greater number of bulk unit trains, as well as longer trains.

PMV will contribute $17.6 million toward the $43 million cost of the project.

The federal government contribution is being made under the Federal Infrastructure Stimulus Fund and Asia-Pacific Gateway & Corridor Initiative programs.

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