...Blue glow proposed for 'blue bridge'
Victoria entrepreneurs hatched plan while admiring illuminated legislature
Carolyn Heiman, Times Colonist
Published: Saturday, February 23, 2008
The blue bridge may get a little bluer.
Plans are afoot to bathe the historic bridge in a blue light at night.
Bud Dovey and Knud Mortensen came up with the idea about two years ago while admiring the lights of the Inner Harbour and legislature buildings over dinner.
View Larger ImageNIGHT LIGHTS FOR HISTORIC LANDMARK?: The Johnson Street Bridge is bathed in blue light to test a plan by two Victoria business people to light up the bridge at night.
We were looking at the Johnson Street bridge and talked about how it would look lit up, said Mortensen. "Other cities we've been to really light up their downtown. It makes them welcoming. We felt we've been in business a long time here ... close to 50 years ... and this would be an area to give back."
Neither Dovey or Mortensen would say how much it would cost to do the project but Dovey, owner of Equitex Realty and Management, said he doesn't want it to cost the taxpayer anything.
Mortensen, the division manager for electrical contractor Canem Systems Ltd., said time is the biggest thing they've invested to date as numerous options have been tried in the search for one that will require low energy use, withstand a saltwater environment, not contribute to light pollution or be glaring for motorists, and be easy to take on and off in the event the bridge has to be painted.
"It's been a process trying to get the right thing," he said, adding several new lighting technologies have been tried.
This week the pair said they are close to what they think is the best lighting solution, although Dovey noted "we're not trying to railroad anything through. . . . If no on likes it we will remove it at our cost."
The project was broached at Victoria city council by Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe who asked for a staff report on the idea and what impact it might have in a number of areas including heritage, structural and operational impact on the bridge, and safety and light pollution.
Ken Kelly, executive director of the Downtown Victoria Business Association, likes the idea and points to Vancouver's Lions Gate Bridge that "looks like a string of pearls" when lit up.
The Johnson Street Bridge is a bascule type of bridge, referring to its ability to rise from one end when a counterweight on the other end lowers. Its claim to fame comes from its connections to Joseph Strauss, the designer of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and who played a role in the Victoria bridge's design.
The Johnson Street Bridge cost $918,000 in 1924.
cheiman@tc.canwest.com
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2008
CRD Bridges
#1
Posted 23 February 2008 - 08:13 AM
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Posted 23 February 2008 - 08:46 AM
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Posted 23 February 2008 - 12:58 PM
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Posted 23 February 2008 - 01:23 PM
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Posted 23 February 2008 - 02:32 PM
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Posted 23 February 2008 - 03:43 PM
#7
Posted 26 February 2008 - 08:51 AM
Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.
#8
Posted 27 February 2008 - 11:12 AM
#9
Posted 27 February 2008 - 03:45 PM
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Posted 29 February 2008 - 09:49 PM
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Posted 01 March 2008 - 06:19 PM
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Posted 01 March 2008 - 10:07 PM
#13
Posted 14 March 2008 - 10:01 AM
This Day in History
Times Colonist
Published: Friday, March 14, 2008
Stories from our pages over the last 150 years.
Mayor Robert Porter told the City Council last night that the CPR plans for the proposed Johnson Street bridge had arrived safe and sound, but that he had informed the CPR frankly that they would not do.
"They asked me for an expression of opinion," he said, "and I stated without hesitation that there was no use in bringing the plans before the aldermen, as you would not approve of them for a minute."
After the meeting, the Mayor and aldermen pored over the CPR diagrams and then compared them with the plans being worked upon by City Engineer F. M. Preston, which provide for an entirely different type of bridge and a larger one.
The CPR offered a bridge with a swinging span and a roadway only eighteen feet across. The city draughtsmen are marking out a bascule bridge that will have a 38-foot roadway, with provision for two streetcar tracks and railway tracks on different elevations.
It will be remembered that some time ago Premier Oliver received a wire from President Beatty, of the CPR, stating that the plans were on their way to Victoria for approval. Last night the Mayor gave the first intimation that they were unsatisfactory, although several days ago the engineer was instructed to prepare plans of his own. As soon as they are finished, they will go forward to the various parties interested.
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2008
-City of Victoria website, 2009
#14
Posted 14 March 2008 - 10:06 AM
Title: Victoria's Johnson Street bridge under construction; the earlier swing bridge still extant, later deconstructed.
Photographer/Artist: UNDETERMINED
Date: [1919]
-City of Victoria website, 2009
#15
Posted 14 March 2008 - 05:17 PM
March 14, 1919: Mayor says CPR bridge plans won't do
This Day in History
Times Colonist
Published: Friday, March 14, 2008
Stories from our pages over the last 150 years.
Mayor Robert Porter told the City Council last night that the CPR plans for the proposed Johnson Street bridge had arrived safe and sound, but that he had informed the CPR frankly that they would not do.
"They asked me for an expression of opinion," he said, "and I stated without hesitation that there was no use in bringing the plans before the aldermen, as you would not approve of them for a minute."
After the meeting, the Mayor and aldermen pored over the CPR diagrams and then compared them with the plans being worked upon by City Engineer F. M. Preston, which provide for an entirely different type of bridge and a larger one.
The CPR offered a bridge with a swinging span and a roadway only eighteen feet across. The city draughtsmen are marking out a bascule bridge that will have a 38-foot roadway, with provision for two streetcar tracks and railway tracks on different elevations.
It will be remembered that some time ago Premier Oliver received a wire from President Beatty, of the CPR, stating that the plans were on their way to Victoria for approval. Last night the Mayor gave the first intimation that they were unsatisfactory, although several days ago the engineer was instructed to prepare plans of his own. As soon as they are finished, they will go forward to the various parties interested.
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2008
It sounds like the original plans were for a bigger bridge.
#16
Posted 02 April 2008 - 06:31 AM
Colwood's Coburg Peninsula under threat
Winter storms undermining bridge to popular site; cost of remediation could run into the millions
Bill Cleverley, Times Colonist
Published: Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Options range from doing nothing to spending a bundle
Bill Cleverley, Times Colonist
Published: Wednesday, April 02, 2008
#17
Posted 02 April 2008 - 08:04 AM
-City of Victoria website, 2009
#18
Posted 18 April 2008 - 01:55 PM
Surely there's better lighting technology that could be used to light up the bridge than Xmas-sy looking strings of bulbs.
Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.
#19
Posted 18 April 2008 - 02:14 PM
#20
Posted 18 April 2008 - 04:06 PM
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