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WILLIAM R. BENNETT BRIDGE 

Location:

Kelowna, BC

 

Owner:

BC Ministry of Transportation

 

Client:

WRB Group

(SNC Lavalin Inc. & VPDL Joint Venture)

 

Contract Value:

$40M

 

Start Date:

July 2005

 

Completion Date:

August 2010

 

 

The William R. Bennett (WRB) Bridge is a two kilometre
corridor that straddles Okanagan Lake to connect two communities, Kelowna and West Kelowna.

Acting as both a member of the design build-joint venture and dedicated subcontractor, VanPile led the marine construction including the construction of a 30 m wide by 100 m long by 7 m deep Graving Dock (Drydock) using sheet piles on the shore of Okanagan Lake for fabricating the floating concrete pontoons. Vanpile Pile Driving also supplied and installed 89 piles at 2 abutments and 5 piers

The original design of the bridge had shorter sized floating concrete segments; however, after re-design and upon further geotechnical investigation of the area, the graving dock was increased in size to minimize the number of concrete segments and reduce the number of connections. Additionally, during the construction of the graving dock, discovered archeological artifacts led to a shutdown of three months while investigations took place. The team was able to overcome the delays and complete the construction ahead of schedule.
The demolition and disposal of the floating sections of the existing floating bridge were challenging. It was concluded that the best option was the demolition and recycling of the pontoons within the graving dock facility. The final disposal saw the steel recycled and the concrete was reclaimed by crushing it and transporting it for road case on other highway construction projects.