Clearance below 18 m Body of water Okanagan Lake | Opened 25 May 2008 Longest span 44 m Bridge type Pontoon bridge | |
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Carries Motor vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles Official name William R. Bennett Bridge Similar Okanagan Lake, Mount Boucherie, Bear Creek Provincial Park, Kelowna Sails, Rattlesnake Island |
William r bennett bridge kelowna bc
The William R. Bennett Bridge is a pontoon bridge in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada. Completed on May 25, 2008, the bridge replaced the older Okanagan Lake Bridge built in 1958 to link Downtown Kelowna to West Kelowna across Okanagan Lake as part of Highway 97.
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On April 21, 2005, Premier Gordon Campbell officially renamed the bridge from the Okanagan Lake Bridge to William R. Bennett Bridge in honour of former Premier William Richards Bennett, a native of Kelowna.

Construction budget

The first press release from the BC Ministry of Transportation to include budget information was in 2003. At that time, the project was estimated to cost $100 million CAD for the bridge and another $20 million CAD for the two interchange upgrades on the west side of the lake.[1]

By June 29, 2005, the cost of the bridge was increased from the previous estimate of $100 million CAD to $144 million CAD "due to dramatic increases in the cost of construction materials and labour", which includes significant increases in the cost of concrete, steel, and fuel. Over the next 30 years, the province of British Columbia expects to pay SNC-Lavalin a total of $179 million CAD "to design, build, finance, operate, maintain and rehabilitate the bridge".[2]
Construction schedule

Bridge facts

