Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing Collapse of 1958

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironworkers_Memorial_Second_Narrows_Crossing#Collapse 

After the collapse, there was a chance that the Iron_Bridge (IwB) could have been totally redesigned, but this is BC. Its very difficult in BC to design transportation infrastructure with significant future capacity. The Iron Bridge should have been built along the lines of the 12 lane Ship_Canal_Bridge (SCB) in Seattle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_Canal_Bridge 

Unlike Seattle and Washington State, so much in BC is built to a provincial backwater standard. Thus, nothing on the scale of the SCB has ever been allowed in BC. https://pauldorpat.com/2014/05/17/seattle-now-then-the-ship-canal-bridge Sunce an LRT line wasn't possible for the SCB, it runs sort of parallel in a tunnel to the UW. Of course LRT to UBC is still an incomplete BC pipe dream.

The IwB should have had at least 8 lanes on an upper deck and 4 lanes on a lower deck for extra bus and truck lanes. There should have also been a provision for 2 LRT tracks on a lower deck, but that would be properly planning for the future. 

Unfortunately, the Vancouver Mind Virus (VMV) ruined the Burrard-Bridge. The Burrard_Street Bridge (BSB) opened with 6 lanes and a lower level provision for a double track streetcar crossing.

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local-news/5-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-the-burrard-bridge-7129420 

Foolishly, because the city didn't want to build a parallel bike bridge, 2 lanes were removed from the BSB. This has made it very unlikely that the BSB will be able to have 2 bus lanes. No lower level streetcar crossing was ever built. Yet, a streetcar line on both side of False Creek could have been a nice thing to have up and running. Ironically, Vancouver was one of the first cities to get rid of its streetcars and will likely be one of the last to bring them back. The VMV is such a horrible thing, yet it officially doesn't exist.