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The Confederation Bridge (French: Pont de la Confédération) is a bridge spanning the Abegweit Passage of Northumberland Strait, linking Prince Edward Island with mainland New Brunswick, Canada. It was commonly referred to as the "Fixed Link" by residents of Prince Edward Island prior to its official naming. Construction began on 13 July 1995, continued for 18 months, and cost $1 billion. The bridge opened on 31 May 1997.

Total length 8.1 miles (12.9 kilometers).

The bridge is a two-lane highway toll bridge that carries the Trans-Canada Highway between Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island and Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick. It is a multi-span post-tensioned concrete box girder structure. Most of the curved bridge is 40 metres (132 feet) above water, but it contains a 60 metre (198 feet) high navigation span to permit ship traffic. The bridge rests on 62 piers, of which the 44 main piers are 250 metres (825 feet) apart. The bridge is 11 metres (36 feet) wide. At 12.9 kilometres (8.1 miles), it is the longest bridge over waters that freeze in the world, and is the longest bridge in Canada.

Tolls are paid only when exiting Prince Edward Island; the current toll rate is $40.50 for an automobile, with other rates for different types of vehicles. Pedestrians and cyclists are not permitted to cross; however, a shuttle service is available. The speed limit on the bridge is 80 km/h (50 mph).

Construction was started by Strait Crossing Development Inc. in the fall of 1993, beginning with preparation of staging facilities. Bridge components were built year-round from 1994 to summer of 1996, and placement of components began in fall 1994 until fall 1996. Approach roads, toll plazas and final work on the structure continued until the spring of 1997, at an estimated total cost of $1 billion.

All bridge components were constructed on land, in purpose-built staging yards located on the shoreline at Amherst Head, fronting on Borden Harbour just east of the town and ferry docks, and an inland facility located at Bayfield, New Brunswick about 3 kilometres (1.8 miles) west of Cape Tormentine. The Amherst Head staging facility was where all large components were built, including the pier bases, ice shields, main spans, and drop-in spans. The Bayfield facility was used to construct components for the near-shore bridges which were linked using a launching truss extending over shallow waters almost 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) from the New Brunswick shore, and 0.5 kilometres (0.3 miles) from the Prince Edward Island shore.

Extremely durable high-grade concrete and reinforcing steel was used throughout construction of the pre-cast components, with the estimated lifespan of the bridge being in excess of 100 years. Their sheer size and weight required strengthening of the soil base during the design and preparation work for the Amherst Head staging facility, as well as the use of a crawler transport system to move pieces from fabrication to storage, and onto a nearby pier. These crawler transports, using specially designed teflon-coated concrete rails, earned the nickname lobsters from workers.

All major components were lifted from the Amherst Head staging facility, transported, and placed in Abegweit Passage using the HLV Svanen, a Danish-built heavy lift catamaran, which during the construction of the fixed link was reportedly the tallest man-made structure in the province. HLV Svanen was custom-built for use on the Great Belt Bridge in the early 1990s, Denmark's largest construction project, and was modified at a French shipyard before working on the Northumberland Strait Crossing Project. Following the placement of the final major component and completion of the bridge structure in Abegweit Passage on November 19, 1996, HLV Svanen returned to Denmark for use in construction of the Øresund Bridge.

Construction of the fixed link required over 5,000 workers ranging from labourers and specialty trades, to engineers, surveyors and managers. The economic impact of construction on Prince Edward Island was substantial, with the provincial GDP rising over 5% during the construction, providing a short-term economic boom for the Island.

[Source: Wikipedia]

Send by: Aaron DeLong