I’ve been doing a bit of travelling this last week, mainly around the region. In the next few days, some pics and comments on recent development.
After a meeting in Langley City today, I headed back up 200th Street to make the connection with Highway 1. And there in the distance were the spires of the new Golden Ears Bridge, still under construction.
Golden Ears Bridge
Two immediate impressions: the cable-stay spires are not as elegant or as impressive as those on the Alex Fraser or the Skytrain crossings – though still eye-catching and dramatic. But if they’re not as tall as one might have expected, the elevated roadways leading on to the bridge are much longer and more massive than I anticipated.
There’s also a new road underneath the on-ramp.
For more on the bridge and its context, check out Price Tags 68.
The Golden Ears Bridge is an extradosed bridge – meaning that it’s support structure is shared between a rigid bridge deck and cable stays from the towers. This allows the shorter towers.
http://www.b-t.com/projects/goldenears.htm
The Canada Line bridge is also an extradosed bridge, where short towers were required due to the YVR flight paths.
http://www.b-t.com/projects/rav.htm