2008: The Debut of a Pontoon Bridge in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley

May 25, 2008

A pontoon bridge in the Okanagan Valley of the Canadian province of British Columbia was opened to traffic. (A pontoon bridge has floats or shallow-draft boats to support a continuous deck.) This bridge crosses Okanagan Lake and serves as a link between the cities of Kelowna and West Kelowna. This structure replaced a bridge that had been in operation in that region since 1958. The current bridge, which is part of British Columbia Highway 97, is used by motor vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

While this bridge was still under construction, its name was officially changed from the Okanagan Lake Bridge to the William R. Bennett Bridge. Bennett was a native of Kelowna who served as premier of British Columbia from 1975 to 1986.

Photo Credit: GoToVan (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en)

For more information on the William R. Bennett Bridge, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_R._Bennett_Bridge