The City of Victoria says the main deck span for the new Johnson Street Bridge will be lifted into place during the week of Jan. 26. It's now sitting on a barge in Victoria's Upper Harbour, being prepared for the big lift. The span, along with other major steel components, was manufactured in China. Two giant rings, at the core of the mechanism for raising the bridge, were installed in early December. The bridge, connecting Vic West with downtown Victoria, was designed to be raised so that marine traffic can pass. Construction of the bridge started in May 2013.
After the bridge is assembled, it will go through several weeks of testing. It is scheduled to open to traffic in March, after which the old bridge will be disassembled. The new span is being built at a budgeted cost of $105 million, up from the original estimate of $63 million in 2009.