Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Confederation Bridge
The bridge was completed and operational in late spring 1997, at which time Strait Crossing
began collecting its subsidy and tolls. Tourism was hoped to increase by as much as 25 percent in
response to the reality of the fixed link, and the island economy was expected to be revitalized. Op-
ponents continued to be pessimistic, pointing to the hundreds of jobs lost by the closing of ferry ser-
vice, but on P.E.I. there were new jobs collecting the round-trip toll, which in 2003 stood at $38.50
for an automobile. Not a few tourists began to go to the island simply to see the bridge and exper-
ience crossing the strait in ten to twelve minutes. It remains to be seen, however, if this will con-
tinue as the bridge becomes taken for granted as just another part of the infrastructure. What does
not remain in doubt is that for the foreseeable future Confederation Bridge will remain the longest
bridge over ice-covered waters in the world. It will attract pontists—as many bridge buffs tend to
call themselves—on “bridging” trips, as the photographer Robert Cortright calls his excursions to
admire and photograph the structures that make that travel itself easier and more pleasurable.
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