bridges of its kind and is the largest single-leaf
bascule bridge in Canada and one of the larg-
est in the world (more commonly referred to
as a “draw bridge”, where a leaf rises and low-
ers to let in maritime traffic). The huge steel
bridge has six main components: two rings,
two forward trusses, a counterweight and the
steel deck. A crane, nicknamed “The Beast”
for its 900-tonne capacity, had to be specially
constructed to help put the pieces together.
“The design had never really
been done by anyone
else before, so it was innova-
tive,” says Huggett. “And the
fact that you had steel parts
assembled from pieces from
all over the world was very
unique.”
The global aspect of the bridge
will be reflected in people
from all over the world using
the bridge when visiting the
world-class city. According to
the City of Victoria, approxi-
mately 30,000 crossings tak-
ing place each day, including
vehicles, local transit, pedes-
trians and cyclists, making the
Johnson Street Bridge one
of the busiest and,
t h e r e f o r e ,
most
“It was a tremendous
celebration. This bridge
will be here for at least the
next 100 years and will
serve as an anchor to
the community.”
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Jonathan R. Huggett
Engineering consultant
6 BUSINESS ELITE CANADA | JULY 2018
