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The Knight Street Bridge (1974) is a cantilever bridge which spans the North Arm of the Fraser River in British Columbia, connecting Vancouver and Richmond. It is located to the east of the Oak Street Bridge. Other than spanning the river, the bridge also provides access to Mitchell Island. The bridge has a length of 1450 meters and has clearances of 12.2 by 79.2 metres over the north channel, and 20.1 by 109.7 metres for the south channel. The Knight Street Bridge serves as a feeder route for Highways 91 and 99 to its south. Electric heating cables were installed in the deck to minimize the use of de-icing salt in the winter.
The bridge was built to replace an obsolete span linking the south end of Fraser Street with No. 5 Road in Richmond via Mitchell Island. The Fraser Street Bridge was a through truss built in 1905 with a swing span on the northern side of Mitchell Island. The channel was difficult to navigate, making collisions with ships and barges routine. The height of the Knight Street bridge alleviated this problem and the Fraser Street Bridge was dismantled.
The bridge has the distinction of having the most bridge motor vehicle accidents in BC. In addition, the bridge's interchange with Marine Drive is in the top three intersections for motor vehicle accidents in BC.
TransLink, the regional transportation authority, is responsible for the bridge.
The construction of the bridge took 5 years, costing about $15 million including the approaches. The bridge opened in 1974.
On January 15, 2000 the boom of a mobile crane transported on a barge named T.L. Sharpe, towed by the Sea Cap XII, struck the underside of the Knight Street Bridge at 1:45 PM, damaging the bridge and the fixtures secured underneath its deck. The impact caused the boom to bend and the crane to slide off the barge and sink. To read the full report, please see the Transportation Safety Board of Canada Report.
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