After 66 years the Marine Drive Bridge over Mosquito Creek is set for its last crossing.
City of North Vancouver council voted unanimously on a $9-million replacement for the 1950s-era bridge.
The city is set to contribute $1.93 million to go along with $3.2 million from TransLink and $3.87 million from Build Canada’s Small Communities Fund, a federal and provincial partnership.
The bridge, which was widened in 1973 and 1981, was found to have a “heavily corroded steel tendon” in a girder during a 2015 inspection. Replacement was recommended based on the bridge’s age and “the uncertainty of the condition of the post-tensioned tendons in the other girders,” the report stated.
With construction set to begin in the spring of 2019, the replacement bridge should: “improve pedestrian, cycling, and transit connections across Mosquito Creek,” according to the city staff report.
The old bridge was recognized by the B.C. Historical Federation as the first pre-stressed concrete bridge in Canada. The technique, which uses compression to overcome weaknesses in concrete, is now widely used.
The motion for the bridge was passed without discussion.
“It’s carried unanimously,” Mayor Darrell Mussatto noted. “So, we’ll build a bridge.”
