Johnson Street Bridge
The Johnson Street Bridge is a bascule bridge spanning the Victoria Harbour in Victoria, British Columbia. Four known bridges have spanned the narrows between Victoria's Inner Harbour and Upper Harbour, connecting Johnson Street on the east shore with Esquimalt Road on the west shore. The current bridge is Canada's largest single-leaf bascule bridge. It carries three vehicular traffic lanes, with a pedestrian walkway on its south side, and a multi-use pathway on its north side. The bridge is lit with blue LED lighting as a homage to its predecessor, which was referred to as the "Blue Bridge". It is one of only two road drawbridges on Vancouver Island, the other being the 17th Street Bridge in Courtenay.
History
The first bridge connecting the west and east shores of the Victoria Harbour was a low wagon bridge, completed in 1855. The bridge blocked marine traffic, and was ultimately dismantled seven years later in 1862 and replaced with a ferry service.A second bridge, for rail and foot traffic only, was constructed in 1888. This hand-operated swing bridge of limited load capacity was in operation until 1923.
Third bridge, 1924–2018
The third Johnson Street Bridge, completed in 1924, was built as two adjacent, independent, heel trunnion bascule bridges. It later became referred to as the "Blue Bridge" or "Old Blue", after it was painted a light blue colour following corrosion repairs in the late 1970s.Background and construction
The third Johnson Street Bridge was designed under the direction of city engineer Mr. F. M. Preston in 1920. The Strauss Bascule Bridge Company, which held the patents on the design, prepared the plans for the bascule spans and the operating machinery. The superstructure of the bridge was fabricated in Walkerville, Ontario of 100 tons of steel. The sub-structure was built by the City of Victoria Engineering Department and required of concrete. The bridge was constructed to carry a three-lane road span of, and a single-track rail span of. The approaches were fixed steel girders; the east was and the west was. Counterweights were made of hollow concrete weighing. Its operating struts were moved by pinions powered by electric motors. The bridge was completed at a cost of $918,000 and opened in January 1924.Modifications and use
The bridge originally had street car rails running down the center of the road span, but they were never used, and were removed a few years after opening. In 1966, the wood deck was replaced with steel grid, as rainwater absorbed by the deck unbalanced the bridge, straining the lifting gear.In 1979, extensive repairs were made to the superstructure, which had become severely corroded. Following these repairs, the bridge was painted blue. The paint was selected because the oxides of its pigment are the same colour as the paint so that little fading of the colour occurs. The City of Victoria had used the same blue paint for the lamp standards throughout the city.
In 1995, abnormally high temperatures caused the steel decking to expand to the point the bridge would not open or close properly. This necessitated the removal of about of the decking.
Daily traffic in 2010 was 30,000 trips a day at peak usage, of which 4000 were pedestrians, 3000 cyclists, and 23,000 vehicles. Until 2011, the rail span for the E&N Railway was used twice a day by the Via Rail Dayliner, for trips up Vancouver Island towards Duncan, Nanaimo and Courtenay.
Condition assessment
On April 2, 2009, the preliminary results of an overall condition assessment of the Johnson Street Bridge were presented to Victoria City Council. Given the seismic vulnerability of the existing bridge, combined with its heavy use and high volumes of traffic, it was recommended that the bridge either undergo a seismic retrofit or full replacement within 2 to 3 years. After a detailed presentation by City Engineering staff and Delcan engineering consultants, and lengthy discussion by council, the city council gave approval-in-principle on April 23, 2009 to replace the 85-year-old Johnson Street Bridge.Development of a replacement bridge
On July 9, 2009, Victoria City Council asked staff to proceed with pursuing a design-build model and developing terms of reference for an advisory panel of community representatives to participate in the Johnson Street Bridge Replacement Project. Later that month, seven residents of Greater Victoria were named to the Johnson Street Bridge Citizen Advisory Committee and City Council awarded the Owner's Representative contract to MMM Group Limited to project manage the replacement of the 85-year-old bascule bridge. Victoria City Council was presented on September 8, 2009 with three design concepts for the replacement Johnson Street Bridge. On September 24, 2009, City Council decided on the Rolling Bascule Bridge as the design for the new bridge after reviewing public feedback, recommendations from the Citizens Advisory Committee, and advice from a staff technical committee. On November 19, 2009, the city council voted in favour of an Alternate Approval Process to require a counter petition. If more than 10% of residents would oppose the borrowing bylaw, then the issue would go to a referendum. By the deadline on January 4, 2010, organizers presented a successful counter petition to City Hall, exceeding this 10% threshold.During October and November 2009, the provincial government declined to contribute to funding the bridge project. A few weeks later the federal government approved a $21 million grant for the replacement project, funding of which came from the Build Canada Fund. In December 2009, a counter petition was launched to force the city to go to a referendum to obtain approval to borrow the further $42 million needed towards the $63 million total cost. In February 2010, the city commissioned MMM Group to prepare a full Class C report on comparable options for both replacement and rehabilitation.
On May 27, 2010, the results of an Ipsos-Reid survey were released, summarizing local resident priorities for the bridge. These priorities included having a dedicated pedestrian walkway, effective lifespan, acceptable cost, dedicated bike lanes, accessibility for other users, and safety, above heritage value and having a rail crossing. Local business owners did not see a benefit from one bridge option over the other, but concerns over cost and construction issues including potential closures were noted.
On June 11, 2010, Banjar Management's Economic Impact Assessment identified economic benefits of the bridge. Negative economic impacts were assessed as follows:
- Downtown Victoria business impairment: Full closure, $10.3 million; one lane open, $5.1 million; two lanes open, $2.6 million
- Vehicle diversion travel time costs: Full closure, $1.6 million; one lane open, $1.0 million; two lanes open, $0.4 million
- Bus diversion costs over one year : Transit Operation Cost, $0.5 million ; transit passenger travel time, $1.0 million
On June 17, the city council decided to ask other municipalities to help fund the costs of maintaining the rail link. This would reduce the cost of refurbishment by $23 million, and replacement by $12 million. Long-term planning for commuter rail to the western communities would be affected if the rail line no longer crossed into downtown Victoria, terminating instead in the Victoria West neighbourhood. The deadline for obtaining this funding was August 12, 2010. The city council also voted on this date to update the bridge to a seismic standard of 8.5 magnitude. Information packages and numbered surveys were sent out to all Victoria residents, inviting input up to the August 12 deadline. During the month of July, City of Victoria hosted 2 open houses and bridge tours to provide information on the projects to residents. City staff, engineers, and project managers were present to answer questions.
On August 12, 2010, Victoria city councillors voted to replace the Johnson Street Bridge, rather than refurbish the existing bridge. The vote was done after tours, open houses, and surveys were done to inform residents of Victoria of the options. An Ipsos-Reid survey found that 64% and 68% of residents and businesses respectively preferred replacing the bridge with a new one. On November 20, 2010 the referendum to support the city borrowing money for the cost of the new bridge passed 61% to 39%. The new bridge was scheduled to be completed in 2015, at which time the old bridge would be removed.
Closure of rail span
On March 31, 2011, the rail span was closed to rail traffic after a routine inspection found corrosion damage on key structural elements. A preliminary estimate of repair costs was $120,000.The railway span and approaches were removed in February 2012 to make room for the new bridge.
Rail freight service up Store St. to commercial properties on the east side of the Upper Harbour had been discontinued decades before. Since then, the line terminated at a small passenger station beside the bridge. Victoria–Courtenay passenger service was suspended indefinitely in March 2011 due to deteriorating track.