Kicking Horse Canyon upgrade, Canada

The Rocky Mountain section of the Trans-Canada Highway between Golden in British Columbia and Lake Louise in Alberta has some of the most picturesque scenery to be found in Canada.

The Kicking Horse Canyon section is situated just a little east of Golden and is comprised of a narrow, winding two-lane road, which has steep rock faces on one side and then a sheer drop to the main line railway and the Kicking Horse River on the other side.

Because of this, maintenance and upgrading is a difficult proposition and not much has been done to the road since it was first built in the 1950s.

The road carries around 10,000 vehicles per day in peak times and is used by a mixture of tourist and commercial traffic (24% heavy traffic).

Revitalising this portion of the national highway system, a critical link to British Columbia's ports and southern routes, is critical to strengthening the province as Canada's Asia Pacific connection and gateway to the world. The project is expected to cost a total of around $960m.

UPGRADE PROJECT

The 26km section of road is now being upgraded between Highway 95 junction at Golden and the western boundary of Yoho National Park to a modern four-lane highway (100km/hour speed limit). The highway will be 'softened' by taking out some of the steep gradients and significantly reducing the curves and bends (hazards). It is hoped this will improve the safety of the highway.

The project is being undertaken in four major phases in a partnership between the provincial British Columbia government and the federal government. Phase 1, completed in November 2006, included the replacement of the Yoho Bridge and upgrade of 3.2km of highway.

Phase 2 included the replacement of the Park Bridge and 5.8km of highway upgrades. This was completed in August 2007 at an investment of $143m. Construction of Phase 3 began in October 2008 and is expected to be complete in 2012. Phase 4 is in the planning period and funding has yet to be obtained.

YOHO BRIDGE

The entire 3.2km project cost $64.2m, with $43.4m from the province and $20.8m from the Canadian Government. Phase 1 section one of Six Mile Hill was completed by Dawson Construction in 2001 for $6.6m.

The project involved grading and rock removal. The new 270m four-lane twin Yoho Bridge (Delta frame pier design) and rock protection wall contract was awarded in 2002 to Peter Kiewitt and Sons ($23.4m) and was completed by 2004.

A third contract involved the realignment of a section of road from Six Mile Hill to the nearby rest area at Rafters Pullout (two miles east of Yoho Bridge) and also construction of a cantilever bridge. The contract was awarded to Emil Anderson Construction Ltd ($17.2m) in 2004 and was completed by autumn 2006.

PARK BRIDGE

This $140m project to replace 5.8km of four-lane highway including Park Bridge (requiring 50,000t of asphalt) was undertaken by the Trans Park Highway Group (TPHG) under a 25-year operations, management, review agreement (OMR). TPHG includes a number of construction companies such as Bilfinger Berger, Flatiron Construction, Parsons Overseas and HMC Services.

The bridge was completed 21 months ahead of schedule and opened in August 2007. Construction work included a 90m-cut approaching the east abutment. The construction of five concrete stantion supports for the flyover bridge was completed by September 2006. The hydraulic launching of the girders for the bridge deck from the west side in a push and add process started in January 2007.

The bridge is 405m long, 90m high with a span of 80m and required 2.5 million kilogrammes of structural steel to build.

THIRD PHASE

The third phase includes: West Signal to Golden Hill, Golden Hill to West Portal, West Canyon (likely to involve the construction of twin tunnels), and the Brake check to Yoho Bridge in the east. Mt Hunter Creek Bridge is also scheduled to be replaced.

A joint funding for Phase 3 was announced by the Governments of Canada and British Columbia in November 2007. In December 2009, a design and build contract worth $27.2m was awarded to Emil Anderson Construction for the stretch from Golden Hill to West Portal. Construction on Brake Check to Yoho National Park began in October 2008 and was completed in 2011.

FOURTH PHASE

The final phase of the project involves upgrading the Highway 95 intersection and West Portal to Yoho Bridge. This part of the project is estimated to cost $630.5m.