Port Mann/Highway 1

37 km
of highway widened through the eastern suburbs of Vancouver

12
interchanges reconstructured

42 onshore bridges
constructed or rehabilitated

Award of Excellence
Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards

Challenges

The Port Mann/Highway 1 project was a critical component of British Columbia’s Gateway Program, addressing growing regional congestion and predicted growth through 2031.
Replaced the Port Mann Bridge across the Fraser River, widened 37 km of highway, constructed or rehabilitated 42 onshore bridges, and rebuilt 12 interchanges.
Included high-occupancy vehicle lanes, transit and commercial-vehicle priority to on-ramps, upgrades to the cycling network, and electronic tolls on the Port Mann Bridge.
Constructed the new Fraser Heights Connector to link Highway 1 with the recently completed Golden Ears Crossing and the planned South Fraser Perimeter Road.

Solutions

The senior partner in a joint-venture, Hatch led a team of 12 engineering firms in the design of all the onshore works.
Had overall responsibility for the design, and managed a broad, multidisciplinary team of consultants and technical specialists.
Provided detailed design and construction oversight of significant portions of the highway, on-shore structures, and highway alignments for the new Port Mann Bridge.
Totally reconstructed the extremely complex Cape Horn/Lougheed Highway Interchange at the end of the Port Mann Bridge, relocating much of CP Rail’s Sapperton rail yard.

Highlights

Largest infrastructure project in British Columbia's history.
Completed with constant traffic flow that had to continue at all times during construction.
Considered one of the most challenging highway infrastructure projects in Canada, it involved challenging geotechnical conditions, strict environmental obligations, and constant vehicle traffic.
Hatch's H5M joint venture had won the 2014 Deputy Minister’s Consulting Engineers Award for Excellence in Design and Contract Preparation, in the category of Roads.

"Hatch and the H5M’s contributions were instrumental to the Port Mann/Highway 1 Improvement Project, one of the most important transportation projects our province has seen in years. The team implemented a number of technical ‘firsts’ for a project of this magnitude, such as developing the majority of the highway design using 3D modelling and Building Information Management methodologies.”

Keith Sashaw | President and CEO, ACEC-BC