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Bridge Projects

Golden Ears Bridge

TransLink owns and maintains five bridges in the Metro Vancouver region:

  • Golden Ears Bridge
  • Knight Street Bridge
  • Pattullo Bridge
  • Westham Island Bridge
  • The Canada Line Bike and Pedestrian bridge

As part of TransLink's Maintenance and Repair Program, we perform regular maintenance and rehabilitation work on all the bridges to maintain the safety and reliability of each.

Bridges with active maintenance and repair work can be found on this page.

The Golden Ears Bridge is a 1 kilometre six-lane bridge spanning the Fraser River and connecting the communities of Surrey and Langley to Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. It was built to replace the upstream Albion Ferry serving as a more efficient river crossing for vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists.

Since it’s opening in 2009, the bridge has helped to reduce commute times for users and greenhouse gas emissions by preventing longer-than-necessary vehicle trips. The bridge also features bike-pedestrian protected lanes in both directions and is well utilized by commuter and recreational cyclists.

Spanning 1.4 kilometres across the North Arm of the Fraser River, the Knight Street Bridge has served as a critical connection for the movement of people, goods, and services between Vancouver and Richmond since opening in 1974. The bridge also provides access to Mitchell Island and two major highways at its south end.

With more than 100,000 vehicle crossings on an average weekday, the Knight Street Bridge is the second busiest bridge in the Lower Mainland, and maintenance is critical to ensuring the continued safety and reliability of this crossing for all bridge users.

Opened in 1937, the Pattullo Bridge is part of the Major Road Network, serving as a connection between Surrey, New Westminster, and Burnaby. Regular inspection and maintenance of the Pattullo Bridge is ongoing to ensure the safety and functionality of the bridge. This work will keep the bridge operational until a new replacement is complete.

The Westham Island Bridge connects Ladner with Westham Island. It opened to traffic on March 29, 1910. The bridge is approximately 325 metres long and consists of a swing span that opens for marine passage below. As one of TransLink’s oldest assets, the bridge requires repairs and maintenance to ensure it remains operational and safe.

TransLink will be replacing deteriorated structural and mechanical components of the Westham Island Bridge swing span beginning early 2023. Construction is expected to take about five months and be completed in May 2023. While we will make every effort to minimize impacts, marine passage below and vehicle passage across the bridge will be affected during construction.

Marine Impacts

  • The swing span must be closed to marine traffic (cannot be swung open) until the construction work is completed and the temporary piles are removed.

    • Work will begin early January and is expected to finish in May 2023.

  • This Notice provides more information about the work and gives notice that an application has been made to the Minister of Transport as required by the Canadian Navigable Waters Act.

    • Transport Canada has requested feedback on this work as it pertains to marine navigation.

      • To provide feedback regarding marine navigation, please visit Transport Canada’s project search page and search the project registry number, 4456, to find the project page and comment option.

      • Those without access to internet can send comments directly by mail to:

        #820-800 Burrard Street
        Vancouver BC, V6Z 2J8.

Bridge Traffic Impacts

Daytime

  • Most of the construction work will take place during the day with no bridge closures.

  • We’ll be installing temporary support piles during the daytime to avoid nighttime noise disturbances for neighbours. Pile installation work will take place in January 2023.

    • The installation will require intermittent bridge closures, up to one hour in duration.

    • To minimize traffic impacts, the bridge will open for at least 20 minutes after each hour or so of closure to allow users to cross.

Nighttime

  • Removal of the slew bearing will require the bridge to be jacked. Jacking operations, whenever required, will be performed overnight and will require overnight closures. The bridge can re-open to traffic once it has been lifted and placed on the temporary supports.

    • On-site digital signage will provide notice of these overnight closures.

General

  • Bridge traffic weight restrictions must be reduced from 50 to 20 tonnes for safety reasons while the swing span is being supported by temporary piles. This includes work to remove and replace the slew bearing and the floor beams and is estimated to take ten weeks (anticipated from mid February to early May).

  • As always, emergency vehicles will be provided passage at all times throughout construction.

  • Pedestrians and cyclists will also be permitted to cross when safe and may be escorted by work crew for safety purposes.

Stay in Touch:

  • Those who would also like to be part of the Westham Island Bridge Updates stakeholder list can send an email to westham.island.bridge@translink.ca to receive updates about the bridge.

  • We thank you in advance for your patience while we prepare for this important work. This work will ensure the 113 year old Westham Island Bridge remains safe and operational for years to come.