The Mosquito Creek bridge is located along Marine Drive in North Vancouver, British Columbia – a busy and often congested east-west corridor in the North Shore Community. The bridge replacement project brings significant safety and travel improvements for many people: cyclists, pedestrians, transit users and drivers. The new wider bridge includes 4 lanes for traffic, 1 turn lane, 2 transit lanes in each direction, wide sidewalks on both sides, and a new multi-use path under Marine Drive allowing easy access to the beautiful Mosquito Creek Trail.

COWI developed the preliminary bridge replacement concept and worked closely with the City of North Vancouver during the preliminary design process to understand their development plans and needs. After assisting with the definition of the project requirements and prioritization, COWI continued as the primary consultant on the project throughout the detailed design and up to the construction phase.

The Mosquito Creek Bridge Replacement project was a great opportunity for COWI to contribute to local infrastructure improvement efforts and assist the City of North Vancouver to meet its Active Transportation objectives and sustainability goals.

The conceptual replacement study involved preparing various bridge crossing options and scenarios of staged construction to replace the existing substandard bridge with new more resilient structures and to improve the seismic viability of the bridge. A concrete deck composite with steel girders option was retained and the replacement of the structurally and seismically deficient bridge was completed through a multi-stage construction process, while maintaining traffic on half of the bridge during construction. Prefabricated Bridge Modules were built at the precast yard and brought to site for installation with one or two mobile cranes depending on the module size. The joints were filled with Ultra-High-Performance-Concrete. This method allowed for an accelerated construction of the bridge in the field. This way it was possible to have minimal disruption on traffic and existing utilities including emergency services and transit. The project also involved relocating existing utilities, providing additional conduits on the crossing for future use, and among other improvements, replacing substandard streetlight with more energy efficient street luminaires.

Meeting the City’s Active Transportation objectives and sustainability goals and the Marine Drive Community’s Vision, the new improved bridge contributes to providing “a safe neighbourhood where current and future residents enjoy appealing places to live, work, and play; a place defined by its creeks, parks and natural areas; a vibrant pedestrian/bicycle-friendly and diverse commercial centre; and a gateway to the city along a key transportation corridor.”