Iskana-Porrier Bridge
Iskana-Porrier Bridge Gibi Inlet Bridge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Carries |
|
| Crosses | Gibi Inlet Gibi Creek |
| Locale | Tofino and Arinals |
| Owner | Province of Zian |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Double-decked suspension spans (two, connected by center anchorage) |
| Material | Steel, concrete |
| Total length | 10,176 ft (3,102 m) |
| Width | 10 traffic lanes totaling 258.33 ft (78.74 m) |
| Height | 525 ft (160 m) |
| Longest span | 1,400 ft (430 m) |
| Clearance above | 14.67 feet (4.47 m) |
| Clearance below | 190 feet (58 m) |
| History | |
| Construction start | July 8, 1933 January 29, 2017 |
| Construction end | November 12, 1936 (original) September 2, 2021 (replacement) |
| Opened | November 12, 1936 September 2, 2021 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 560,000 |
The Iskana-Porrier Bridge is a suspension bridge connecting Tofino and Arinals across the Gibi Inlet (known as Gibi Creek). The bridge carries over half a million vehicles daily, and is one of the busiest bridges in the world. It is a major transportation network in the Tofino-Arinals Metropolitan Area. Originally constructed and opened in 1936, the bridge has undergone numerous expansions and retrofitting, most recently with a 2-year project to replace the span (which had been aged and subsequently damaged by the 2019 Coastal Valley Earthquake) which completed in 2021. It originally carried automobile traffic on its upper deck, with trucks, cars, buses and commuter trains on the lower, but in 1960 the lower deck was converted to include road traffic as well.