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Patullo Repair Expected Within Two Weeks
-Will Modify Existing Canada Line Span

With the fog-bound, fire-damaged south end of the Patullo Bridge as a backdrop, Translink CEO Tom Prendergast, and Sheri Plewes, Vice President Planning & Capital Management, announced that the bridge, closed on Sunday by fire, would be reopened within two weeks rather than the four to six weeks originally estimated.

The ability to repair the bridge this quickly is possible because TransLink has a design coming to completion to replace that wooden structure this coming summer. The work was part of an effort to upgrade the bridge so it would perform for another 6 – 10 years until a new span is in place. 

According to Plewes, “The design was nearly complete and Buckland & Taylor (the bridge engineers) had a very good understanding about the requirements and constraints on this site.  After the fire, and when we determined the fire was unsafe for public use, we asked the Buckland & Taylor to source contractors and local materials for a modified design. In two days we had been able to conclude an agreement with Surespan Construction to modify a bridge that hey had available in their Langley yard.  It’s a steel and concrete composite and it will be founded on piles on each side.”  She added, “The contractor will begin driving piles tomorrow and proceed on a 24 hour basis and we expect it to be in place within two weeks.  

Plewes said that the span they will modify was formerly used to bridge traffic on 41st Avenue in Vancouver, over the Canada Line excavation on Cambie Street. She added that they will not be able to replace the bridge deck while it is closed because two weeks is not sufficient time to do the work. She did say that they would repair and repave the section with the worst potholes, and complete the repaving this summer. 

The cost of the repair is just under $2 million, according to Plewes. 

 “We knew that that piece of the structure was an Achilles heal for the structure for the net 6 – 10 years,” said Prendergast, “and that was why we had some of the engineering work done ahead of time.”  

Prendergast was asked it there were any other vulnerable parts of the TransLink system like the part destroyed on Sunday.  He responded, “One of the commitments that came out of the meetings the other day was to do just that. At the end of the day if you have structures with Achilles Heals like this they should be identified ahead of time.”

Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade congratulated the management team at TransLink for their quick response to solving the issue.  "They have responded very well to this unfortunate event, however it does underscore the need for greater security for our transportation infrastructure, particularly with the Olympic Games coming to the region in just over a year's time," she said.  "It again demonstrates the serious deficit that decades of relative neglect have brought to bear on our infrastructure and the critical and urgent need to bring it all into a configuration that is appropriate to the demands of an international gateway city."
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