News Roads & Bridges
New girders installed on bridge project in B.C.’s Kicking Horse Canyon

A new bridge under construction in B.C.’s Kicking Horse Canyon has had its first concrete girders installed to support the forthcoming bridge deck.

On Oct. 15, Rob Fleming, minister of transportation and infrastructure, toured the Sheep Bridge project on Highway 1 in the Kicking Horse Canyon east of Golden, B.C.

Sheep Bridge is the westernmost of several structures under construction in the final Phase 4 of the Kicking Horse Canyon Project, which includes the realignment and widening of 4.8 kilometres of the Trans-Canada Highway through the canyon. Construction is scheduled to be complete in winter 2023-24.

The design and build of Phase 4 is being completed by Kicking Horse Canyon Constructors, comprised of Aecon (50 per cent), Parsons Corporation (30 per cent) and Emil Anderson Construction (20 per cent).

Three phases of earlier work have already turned 21 kilometres of narrow, winding two-lane highway into a modern four-lane, 100 km/h standard.

To improve safety for travellers, the new four-lane alignment will have a centre median barrier to divide opposing lanes of traffic. The highway shoulders will be widened to ministry standards to accommodate cyclists.

To allow work to proceed safely and on schedule, the contractor has implemented an extended closure of the Trans-Canada Highway until Nov. 30.

Through traffic on Highway 1 between Golden to Castle Junction is being routed via highways 93 and 95.

The $601-million project is cost-shared, with the federal government contributing as much as $215 million and the B.C. government providing the remaining $386 million.