The SkyBridge is a

cable-stayed A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern o ...

railway bridge in

Metro Vancouver The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and Corporation, corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as o ...

, British Columbia, Canada. Built between 1987 and 1989, it carries trains of the Expo Line of TransLink's SkyTrain across 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 ...

between

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 ...

and

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. The SkyBridge opened for revenue use on March 16, 1990, with the second half of the Phase II extension of SkyTrain to

Scott Road station Scott Road is an elevated station on the Expo Line of Metro Vancouver's SkyTrain rapid transit system. The station is located near the south end of the Pattullo Bridge in the South Westminster neighbourhood of Surrey, British Columbia, Canad ...

History

Construction of the bridge began on October 28, 1987. The first half of the bridge heading towards

was completed first, with the

half being completed on March 19, 1990. The bridge was built by

Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co., Ltd. (HDEC; ) is a major construction company in South Korea. The company was founded by Chung Ju-yung in 1947 as the Hyundai Civil Works Company and was a major component of the Hyundai Group. Hyundai ...

and Kerkhoff Construction, a

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( ) is a city of about 100,000 people and in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located about east of the City of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The enumerated population is 93,203 in the city and 113,767 in the gr ...

-based construction company with a total cost of , or $ in dollars. Construction was completed by September 1988, and testing began in 1989.

Details

The SkyBridge has two tracks carrying Expo Line trains which run between

King George station King George is an elevated station on the Expo Line of Metro Vancouver's SkyTrain rapid transit system. The station is located in the south end of the Surrey City Centre district of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, and is one of the outbound ...

in Surrey and Waterfront station in

Downtown Vancouver Downtown Vancouver is the central business district and the city centre list of neighbourhoods in Vancouver, neighbourhood of Vancouver, Canada, on the northwestern shore of the Burrard Peninsula in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. ...

. A third set of rails in the middle, not connected to the SkyTrain tracks, is used by maintenance crews to truck equipment back and forth on the bridge. The deck is composed of 104 pre-fabricated concrete sections which were built in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, transported via barge, and lifted into place with heavy machinery. When constructed, the concrete sections were glued together with an epoxy resin. The bridge does not carry road traffic, which uses the neighbouring

Pattullo Bridge The Pattullo Bridge is a through arch bridge that crosses the Fraser River and links the cities of New Westminster and Surrey in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia. It was named in honour of Thomas Dufferin Pattullo, the 22nd Premier of British ...

instead. The bridge has two tall towers and carries trains above the Fraser River and valley. The main span is and the total length is . The bridge was the longest cable-supported transit-only bridge in the world from its opening in 1990 to 2019, it has since been surpassed by the Egongyan Rail Transit Bridge, the

Nanjimen Yangtze River Bridge Nanjimen Yangtze River Bridge () is a rapid transit cable-stayed bridge that crosses the Yangtze to connect Yuzhong District, Yuzhong and Nan'an District, Nan'an Districts in Chongqing. The bridge carries Chongqing Rail Transit Line 10 (Chongqing ...

and tied with the

Gaojia Huayuan Jialing River Rail Transit Bridge Gaojia Huayuan Jialing River Rail Transit Bridge is a rail transit suspension bridge crossing the Jialing River between Shapingba District and Jiangbei District in Chongqing. The bridge carries trains for the Chongqing Rail Transit Loop line. ...

, all in

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

, China.

Delayed opening

The opening of the bridge faced some delay as the non-unionized consortium was accused of underbidding unionized firms. In response, labour organizers pressured other unions to boycott the project altogether. The issue was the climax of a series of defeats for construction unions as a result of the Social Credit Party's preference for non-union workers. The situation drew ire from the BC and Yukon Building and Construction Trades Council, who called it a "hot site".

Notes

References

Bridges of Greater Vancouver

External links

Crossing the SkyBridge (YouTube Video)
{{Crossings navbox, reverse=yes , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = SkyBridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

, upstream signs = , downstream = {{plainlist, * Q to Q Ferry (north arm) *

Annacis Island Swing Bridge The Annacis Island Swing Bridge, built in 1986, is a road and rail swing bridge over the Annacis Channel of the Fraser River in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. The bridge connects the community of Queensborough, part of New Westm ...

(Annacis Channel) *

Alex Fraser Bridge The Alex Fraser Bridge (also known as the Annacis Bridge) is a cable-stayed bridge over the Fraser River that connects Richmond and New Westminster with North Delta in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia. The bridge is named for Alex Fraser, a ...