The Pattullo Bridge between New Westminster and Surrey, B.C. is on borrowed time. In-river construction on the $1.4 billion project to replace the old bridge started this spring, leaving the old span with only a few years before deconstruction begins.
An adjacent project to replace a FortisBC gas line that crosses the old Pattullo Bridge was approved by the British Columbia Utilities Commission June 30, clearing the way for work to begin on a new gas line that supplies 35,000 homes and businesses in the area.
Because the province’s design standards do not permit a gas line on the new bridge, the utility will reroute the existing 20-inch line on a six-kilometre route through Burnaby. It will run between the Lougheed Highway and Sperling Avenue, and 16th Avenue and 4th Street, FortisBC said.
Construction on the project, which is expected to cost $175 million, is scheduled to start this fall. The new line should be in place by the end of 2022. The old line will be decommissioned in 2023, prior to the demolition of the old bridge.
