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The Arthur Laing Bridge is a crossing over the north arm of the
Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annua ...
, and several minor roads, in
Metro Vancouver The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as one of the 28 ...
.


History


Proposal

The closing of the original Marpole Bridge in 1957 created a more circuitous route between Vancouver and
Vancouver International Airport Vancouver International Airport is an international airport located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, serving the city of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region. It is located from Downtown Vancouver. It is the second busies ...
(YVR). Years of debate to restore a direct route followed. In 1963, Arthur Laing, Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources, announced plans for a toll bridge to be completed within three years. By 1965, he was promoting a tunnel. In 1971, Don Jamieson, Minister of Transport announced a toll-free bridge, but the proposed ramps directly accessing bridges to
Lulu Island Lulu Island is the name of the largest island in the estuary of the Fraser River, located south of Vancouver, British Columbia, and the second-most populous island in British Columbia, after Vancouver Island. The city of Richmond occupies most ...
would not be built. Richmond residents were angry. On September 6, 1974,
Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and ...
announced that the new bridge over the north arm of the Fraser River would be named after Arthur Laing, who was a member of House of Commons of Canada from Vancouver.


Completion and controversy

Although the bridge opened to traffic on 27 August 1975,
Otto Lang :''see also Otto Lang (film producer) and Otto Lang (actor)'' Otto Emil Lang, (born May 14, 1932) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician. Life and career Lang was born in Handel, Saskatchewan. In 1961, he was appointed Dean of Law at th ...
, Minister of Transport, performed the official opening of the $23m crossing in May 1976. On hand were Premier
Bill Bennett William Richards Bennett, (April 14, 1932 – December 3, 2015) was the 27th premier of British Columbia from 1975 to 1986. He was a son of Annie Elizabeth May (Richards) and former Premier, W. A. C. Bennett. He was a 3rd cousin, twice removed ...
, Gil Blair, mayor of Richmond, Art Phillips, mayor of Vancouver, and widow Geraldine Laing, who unveiled a plaque. Connecting Grant McConachie Way with SW Marine Drive, the bridge is long and wide, with a main span standing above the river. The main span comprises haunched (deeper at supports) steel box-girders and the approaches are concrete box-girders. YVR owns and maintains this high-level four-lane crossing, that has no sidewalks, and cyclists ride on the shoulders of the roadway. Being federal property, signage is in both official languages. Claiming concerns over increased congestion on Granville Street, the City of Vancouver opposed access ramps for Richmond traffic. However, since these commuters were already using the bridge by turning at Aviation Avenue, the true impact of ramps would be to reduce travel distance by , and improve traffic flow on Sea Island. Tom Siddon, member for Burnaby—Richmond—Delta, pressed for the ramps, which opened in 1986. In 2006, YVR floated a proposal that the bridge be restricted to airport traffic, which provoked a hostile reaction from Richmond city councillors.


Further improvements

In 1987, about 45 percent of the deck was milled to about to remove salt-contaminated concrete. After patching, the surface received
cathodic protection Cathodic protection (CP; ) is a technique used to control the corrosion of a metal surface by making it the cathode of an electrochemical cell. A simple method of protection connects the metal to be protected to a more easily corroded " sacri ...
, before placing a thick low-slump dense concrete overlay. The exercise closed half the lanes for four months, and cost about $3m. In the mid-1990s, the bridge underwent seismic upgrades, which comprised deficient bearings, piers and foundations, and potential soil liquefaction. The work included 800 stone columns installed along either side of the bridge for ground improvement. Richmond, about metre above sea level, requires drainage and flood protection. To this end, Grauer Road was raised to 4.7m, which would handle a one-metre rise in sea level. At the road perimeter, the installation of a buried steel sheet pile wall will ensure the bridge piers remain flexible in a seismic event. The road base comprises
pumice Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicular v ...
for light weight and drainage. The project was completed in 2014 for the opening of the McArthurGlen outlet mall. In 2008, Translink added a bus lane on Russ Baker Way, between Gilbert Road and Cessna Drive. To respond to 127 crashes each year on the bridge, camera monitoring was added and a tow truck stationed at the south end of the bridge during morning rush hour. In 2014, the adjustment of vehicle lane widths allowed bike-lane widening to improve safety for cyclists.


Gliding above

In May 1981, a
Cessna 172 The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, Monoplane#High, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company.
, that ran out of fuel, crash landed on the bridge deck, but caused no injuries. Since completion of the north runway in 1996, primarily used for landings, signs have warned bridge traffic of low flying aircraft. The Middle Arm SkyTrain Bridge, which opened in 2009, passes over the Arthur Laing southern approach.


See also

*
List of crossings of the Fraser River This is a list of bridges, tunnels, and other crossings of the Fraser River in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It includes both functional crossings and historic crossings which no longer exist, and lists them in sequence from the South ...
* List of BC bridges


Footnotes


References

* {{Vancouver landmarks Bridges in Greater Vancouver Bridges completed in 1975 Transport in Richmond, British Columbia Bridges over the Fraser River Road bridges in British Columbia 1975 establishments in British Columbia Sea Island (British Columbia)