The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page 6 West Vancouver Historical Society November 2002 FEATURE PRESENTATION REPORT THE LIONS GATE BRIDGE DECK REPLACEMENT By: Anne Vernon Danyl Matson, our September speaker, and Chief Engineer in charge of the Lions Gate Deck Replacement Project, eloquently explained the many problems and difficulties which were encountered in carrying out this work. Because the bridge was kept open for traffic throughout the whole project - a world first - those involved had to find new ways to deed with the tricky situations which arose. The successful completion of the bridge upgrade, with the least posible delay to traffic (despite what many drivers thought!), was due, in no small way, to the hard work, expertise and ingenuity which were displayed by the team of designers, engineers and contractors involved First of all Dai ryl reminded us that the Lions Gate Bridge, which has been an important Fixture in most West Vancouverites' lives for so long, was a two-lane bridge, built by a private company in tlie 1930's, and visited by King George VI. Toll booths were erected and the money collected finally paid off ffie cost of construction by the early 1950's. The Government of British Columbia then bought the bridge for $6 million and, apait from occasional painting, did not do much in the way of maintenance until a few years ago. The lights (added in 1986), which have become such a feature of the bridge, and which can be seen from many parts of the Lower Mainland, as well as much of West Vancouver, added to its charm. . . . government was spending $3M a year just to keep the bridge going . . Traffic had increased out of all expectation, both in weight and numbers, and the bridge was becoming tired and better maintenance habits, plus replacement of the deck surface, became necessary. The sidewalks were curling up and water penetration caused general deterio- ration. By 1977 plans were ready to replace bridge panels each weekend, but these were delayed for several years. Meantime, the government was spending $3M a year just to keep the bridge going. Eventually it was decided to take drastic action and much debate ensued. Finally, it was decided to install completely new panels wliich would carry three wider lanes and have pedestrian/cyclist paths outside the bridge hangers. Tliis meant that tlie bridge would be wider Uian before. By December 1998 the design was complete and by September 2(X)1 tlie majority of tlie construction had been successfully caiTied out. Incredible! The difficulties encountered were many and, some at least, were unexpected. The biggest difficulty, of course, was that the crews had only a 10-hour "win- dow" in which to cut out and displace the old panels and replace and totally connect up the new. With very few exceptions, the company managed to adhere to this timetable and tralllc rolled over tlie bridge on a daily basis wliile the day crews were still working. The logistics involved in this project were mind- boggling, certainly to the audience. A huge tent-like workshop was erected to carry out many of the treat- ments - - sandblasting, caulking, surfacing, deck light- ing, etc. on each of tlie previously constructed panels. Extremely high temperatures were required at all times in this workshop (120 deg was the norm) so working there was liiglily demanding on the personnel involved. It took two years work in this "tent" to construct and weld the 54 panels wliich were required and, to ensure the correct fit, each had to be witliin 1/16th of an inch of the required measurement. Each panel consisted of three traffic lanes plus two sidewalks, barriers and railings, making a total width of 50 l^eet - and the spacing between the bridge hanging cables was only 40 feet! Tliis meant much juggling when installation commenced - a high rate of stress! Also, there were 800 bolts in eveiy panel installed. Just think what tliat meant - working at night under the pressure of that 10-hour "window" ensuring that each bolt was completely matched and secured to its mate. Tills had been looked alter in the workshop, where each hold and bolt had been assembled and re-assembled then taken apart to be transported to the site. . . . there were 800 bolts in every panel . . . Of course, because of the state of the bridge, not just new panels were required. All the trusses and hangers has to be replaced and, again, this was wliile the bridge traffic was going gaily on its way! Also, because the new replacement panels were actually lighter than the old, original, ones, constant juggling had to take place each lime a panel was replaced to ensure that balance was kept even at all times. Transporting the cumbersome panels posed a big problem but, as with the others, it was solved. Four different ways had to be used to get tlie panels in place and severe difficulty was encountered dealing with the last few panels because of the lack of manoeuverable space, botli between tlie hangers and, because of tlie slope, at the Stanley Paik end, but again, they overcame all. Tills was an enormously difficult project and we should be very proud of the people who overcame all to give us our new Lions Gate Bridge. Bravo!