Big news from the 2pm announcement! We’ve found a way to fix the bridge, with an expected completion date within the next two weeks!

You can read the full press release here, but essentially, a structure used to bridge over an excavated station location during Canada Line construction has been sourced as the replacement piece for the burned wooden trestle at the Pattullo Bridge.

From the press release:

The bridge is an existing steel/concrete composite structure that will span the 60 ft gap left after the old timbers was dismantled and removed yesterday. It was located in the Langley, British Columbia yard of Surespan Construction by TransLink design consultants Buckland and Taylor.

In just two days, a turn-key agreement with Surespan was reached on the supply of all materials, fabrication and construction on the replacement piece for the Pattullo Bridge. That work will begin on Thursday. The company will begin pile driving tomorrow and construction will proceed on a 24 hour basis until expected completion, which could be within 2 weeks.

TransLink had been planning to replace the wooden structure this summer and had engaged Buckland and Taylor to design it. This design was nearing completion and Buckland and Taylor were very familiar with the requirements and constraints of a replacement structure.

The new structure will serve the bridge for six to ten years. Plus, while the trestle is being replaced, TransLink will also take the opportunity to do pothole repairs and repaving on the bridge. (Edit: I’ve just been told that repaving of the bridge is being considered during the two week construction, but is not guaranteed since priority is to reopen the bridge.) Plans are already under way to build a tolled replacement for the Pattullo in the future.