The Alex Fraser Bridge (also known as the Annacis Bridge) is a

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which wire rope, cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or wikt:stay#Etymology 3, stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, norm ...

over the

Fraser River The Fraser River () is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain (Canada), Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of V ...

that connects Richmond and

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...

with North Delta in

Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term ''Greater Vancouver'' describes an area that is roughly coterminous with the r ...

, British Columbia. The bridge is named for Alex Fraser, a former British Columbia Minister of Transportation. The bridge was the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world when it opened on September 22, 1986, and was the longest in North America until the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, in the U.S. state of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, opened in 2005.

Overview

The Alex Fraser Bridge is long with a main span of . The towers are tall. It consists of seven lanes, three in each direction with the middle lane acting as a reversible lane, and had a maximum speed limit of until July 24, 2019, when the speed limit was lowered to to accommodate the additional reversible lane. Upon opening in 1986, only four of the six available lanes were open. Cyclists and pedestrians share two narrow sidewalks one on each side. All six lanes opened in 1987 after traffic demand justified the need. The bridge's southern end is in North Delta and its northern end is on

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

's Annacis Island. Connections on its southern end lead to White Rock and the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

at the Peace Arch border crossing. The connections on the northern end lead into the cities of New Westminster, Richmond, and

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard In ...

, and on into

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

itself. It is a major artery in the

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 ...

of British Columbia. The bridge was constructed for the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and was designed by a joint venture of Klohn Crippen Berger and Buckland & Taylor (now COWI North America). Its total cost was $58 million.

Recent history

In December 2016, "ice bombs" (also called "slush bombs") dropped from the Alex Fraser Bridge and the nearby Port Mann Bridge onto vehicles, causing damage to windshields. The Alex Fraser has its cables along the sides of the driving lanes, whereas on the Port Mann, they cross over top of the driving lanes. In addition to 2016, this also happened on the Alex Fraser in 2005, 2008, and 2012. The Alex Fraser needed to be closed a few times during December 2016 due to the possibility of ice bombs; this caused major traffic problems in the region. To combat this issue, the BC government announced that a heavy lift helicopter will be used to blow snow and ice off the cables to prevent it from accumulating and falling onto the cars below. An announcement was made on January 19, 2017, that a new seventh travel lane would be added on the bridge by slightly narrowing the existing lanes and removing the shoulders. A reversible lane system with a movable barrier was added to help ease traffic during morning and afternoon rush hours. The new seventh lane opened to traffic on September 14, 2019, with the moveable reversible zipper in operation beginning December 16, 2019.Alex Fraser counterflow lane sees first rush hour commute since opening
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References

{{LongestBridge , type = cable-stayed , start = 1986 , end = 1991 , previous = Ingeniero Carlos Fernández Casado Bridge , current = Alex Fraser Bridge , next = Skarnsund Bridge Bridges in Greater Vancouver Cable-stayed bridges in Canada Bridges completed in 1986 Buildings and structures in Delta, British Columbia Bridges over the Fraser River 1986 in Canada Road bridges in British Columbia Roads with a reversible lane Transport in Delta, British Columbia

Overview

Recent history

See also

References