South Shore Corridor

The South Shore Corridor project was designed to enhance operations at the Port of Vancouver and provide for future rail capacity improvements in this unique Graham was successfully awarded this project in late 2012, with an aggressive construction start early January 2013. This high-risk, high-profile project within the Port land on Stewart Street, between Clark Drive and Commissioner Street, is a 2-lane elevated roadway structure spanning 10 at-grade crossings which provides a more efficient route for the busy trucking and rail community that supports the Port. By providinga means for truck traffic to pass over the adjacent rail traffic, overall operation of the Port will be made much more effective and financially viable for all business integrated with the Port.

The structure is approximately 680m long by 11m wide and consists of 15 bridge pier pile foundations 2.75m in diameter and approximately 20m in depth. Atop these piles are 15 cast-in-place concrete pier columns and pier caps, which support 14 steel girder spans of a three-girder wide system. Over 1,700 tonnes of steel and 5,400m³ of reinforced concrete were used, with 1,700m³ of earth excavated for the construction of the piles. A cast-in-place concrete deck system completes the super structure, with concrete barriers running the length of the bridge. The approach structures consist of precast concrete panels and a lightweight EPS foam fill material. The project also included a small amount of earthworks, underground utilities and roadworks, as well as a small pedestrian bridge structure that crosses over the CN/CPR siding allowing safer access for workers entering the Port land.Lafarge, under a separate contract with the Port of Vancouver and in coordination with the Graham project, completed a 1,500m realignment of Commissioner Street in support of the new traffic flows facilitated by the elevated road structure. The roadwork package included significant upgrades to the Port’s entrances as well as upgrades to Commissioner Street, Steward Street, and Centennial Road. These upgrades included road widening to facilitate the new overpass which included the installation of new rail lines and crossings. Additionally, Lafarge’s contract included all supply and place of granular subbase and base for the roadworks, all hard surfaces including curb and gutter, sidewalks, driveways, asphalt milling and paving and island construction, and final landscaping and irrigation.