6% Bridge slope

[grumpydigger]

[Al Czervic]

I for one am excited about the bridge and am deeply impressed at what an engineering achievement this bridge is. People don’t realize that our Lake actually rises and falls several feet every year; somehow the bridge needs to float, be anchored, accommodate the lake level rising and falling (this creates slack in the anchor chain for those of you unfamiliar with such things) and of course support thousands of tons of it’s own weight not to mention thousand of tons of traffic plus it has to connect to solid ground that does not rise or fall several feet each year like the lake does. How they do this I have no idea.

The bridge is only fixed on one end (Kelowna side). The other end is on an ultra complex bearing system that gives it some freedom of motion.

The anchors are actually tightened/loosened at various times of the year to maintain consistent tension. Water is not pumped in/out of the pontoons regularly but can be if required.

At a few points along the bridge there are joints. These joints are fancy rubber pieces that can expand/contract up to a few feet and move up/down. These joints will be covered by sliding metal plates.

Good info. ! Thx for providing it! I had really wondered how everything was going to work. I heard somewhere that they were going to film one of those "how did they do it" shows about the new Kelowna bridge.

[Nebula]

Al, Megabuilders on the Discovery Channel. Never seen anything about it yet though.

[Boda]

I for one am excited about the bridge and am deeply impressed at what an engineering achievement this bridge is. People don’t realize that our Lake actually rises and falls several feet every year; somehow the bridge needs to float, be anchored, accommodate the lake level rising and falling (this creates slack in the anchor chain for those of you unfamiliar with such things) and of course support thousands of tons of it’s own weight not to mention thousand of tons of traffic plus it has to connect to solid ground that does not rise or fall several feet each year like the lake does. How they do this I have no idea.

The bridge is only fixed on one end (Kelowna side). The other end is on an ultra complex bearing system that gives it some freedom of motion.

The anchors are actually tightened/loosened at various times of the year to maintain consistent tension. Water is not pumped in/out of the pontoons regularly but can be if required.

At a few points along the bridge there are joints. These joints are fancy rubber pieces that can expand/contract up to a few feet and move up/down. These joints will be covered by sliding metal plates.

Tell me Nolan, Are you a member of the engineering team?
That's some pretty good inside poop, wish I could aquire that kind of info, as I find it fascinating!

[LoneWolf_53]

I feel sorry for people that cannot think for themselves and get mad at others that question what authority's do. It is the differents between beening a sheep a beening a leader

What's beening?

You're right there's being a sheep and being a leader but the trick is to know where to draw the line because there's a very fine one between leader and whiner.

[CountryAtHeart]

Not everyone who has concerns or has questions as to how it will all come together is a whiner who doesn't appreciate having the new bridge.
A lot of my concerns are surrounding the road maintenance in winter and all the dumb a** drivers I keep hearing about in Kelowna.
In Westbank our streets are a disaster in the winter, and that, plus what I hear on the news and on here is what I have to go on.

So don't lump me in with the ungrateful, or the whiners etc....Thanks.

[grumpydigger]

As people say. the roads in alot of the areas in the okanogan are a mess in the winter. And a lot of the government sheep cheer leaders on this forum ,think that being concerned about maintenance makes someone a whiner. === As far as the word= beening= i make spelling mistakes so lonewolf can look in his dictionary and whine to ME

[aginger1]

I am beginning to understand why so many previous politicians and government’s promised to build the new bridge but didn’t bother given what an ungrateful lot so many seem to be here. People complain about the name; people complain about the fact there is only one bridge being built and not two, people complain about the opening fireworks and now people are complaining about the grade. There are certainly are some miserable people in the world who like to complain a lot.

I for one am excited about the bridge and am deeply impressed at what an engineering achievement this bridge is. People don’t realize that our Lake actually rises and falls several feet every year; somehow the bridge needs to float, be anchored, accommodate the lake level rising and falling (this creates slack in the anchor chain for those of you unfamiliar with such things) and of course support thousands of tons of it’s own weight not to mention thousand of tons of traffic plus it has to connect to solid ground that does not rise or fall several feet each year like the lake does. How they do this I have no idea. To me it is all fairly amazing and small wonder it is one of something like seven floating bridges worldwide. I think that is pretty cool and glad that it will accommodate environmentally friendly sailboats and not just noisy powerboaters like me.

I think the contractors, builders and engineers also deserve a ton of credit; this thing did not end up becoming an albatross taking an extra year to construct and having millions in cost over runs. Instead it is coming in ahead of schedule and on budget. A far superior track record over BC’s last engineering marvel, the fast ferries.

Amen to that.

Very well put. I would like to applaud the engineers, and all the guys out there 24/7 working in all the elements and creating such a wonderful Bridge. I cross it every day and cant WAIT to go on the New one In May. I think all the people complaining in here about the 6% grade should maybe just wait and see what happens. Im pretty sure the engineers and designers would take into account all the factors such as snow, rain, the level of the hill etc and make sure that everything is in spec. They've built lots of bridges and Im sure some of them all have some form of hill. As a driver, when its winter conditions, I tend to slow down...and just take it easy and Ive never had problems on bridge hill thus far. So...instead of finding yet "another" thing to *bleep* about....lets see the positive side of it.

[lefty]

Ditto ginger...I'm not worried about it and can't wait for it to open!

[CountryAtHeart]

ya but Ginger is the one who can't get off her street on the bad snow days either LOL

[lefty]

lol
Bring on the icy bridge slopes, I can spin up one end and slide down the other...doesn't bother me. I'm just happy we have a new bridge May 25th!

[aginger1]

ya but Ginger is the one who can't get off her street on the bad snow days either LOL

You failed to mention the grade on my hill is probably at least 30 degrees, and I had a fwd. And the Plow didnt come by til 3pm that day....LOL Since then, Ive replaced my veh with AWD and....oh ya....the snow is gone...lmao

[LoneWolf_53]

As people say. the roads in alot of the areas in the okanogan are a mess in the winter. And a lot of the government sheep cheer leaders on this forum ,think that being concerned about maintenance makes someone a whiner. === As far as the word= beening= i make spelling mistakes so lonewolf can look in his dictionary and whine to ME

I call double BS. Try all you want but you won't sell your whining as legitimate concern too easily with your track record.

[SpazmoTheMagnificent]

Slope schmope...looks like a jump to me.

[Cateyes]

I'm sure I will have plenty of time to marvel at the wonder of the new bridge as the traffic backs up at the 5 or 6 lights going into downtown!

Yup, the bridge will solve all the problems!