   thumb|250px|alt=via rail dayliner crossing the johnson street bridge after completing a round trip victoria - courtenay, 2008 may 13.|via rail dayliner crossing the johnson street bridge after completing a round trip victoria - courtenay, 2008 may 13. the johnson street bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the harbour of victoria, british columbia. it is commonly referred to as the "blue bridge" because of its distinctive blue colour. the bascule spans were designed by the strauss bascule company limited and were fabricated in ontario. the sub-structure was built by the city of victoria engineering department and required  of concrete. the bridge was completed in january 1924 at a cost of c$918,000. the bridge originally had street car rails running down the center of the road span, but they were never used, and were removed a few years later. the original wood deck was replaced by a steel grid in 1966 and the steel structure was repainted in 1979 as part of an extensive renovation. the bridge had two opening spans of  that operate independently, a three-lane highway span of 350 tonnes and a railway span of 150 tons. the approaches are fixed girders, the east is  and the west is . the counterweights are made of hollow concrete and total 780 tonnes. daily traffic in 2010 is 30,000 trips a day at peak usage, of which 4000 are pedestrians, 3000 cyclists, and 23,000 vehicles. until 2011, the rail span for the e&n was used twice a day by the via rail dayliner, for trips up the island towards duncan, nanaimo and courtenay. the rail span and counterweight have now been removed. ==history== thumb|right the johnson street bridge was designed under the direction of mr. f. m. preston, city engineer in 1920. this is a bascule-type bridge in which one end rises while a counter weight lowers on the opposite end. when it was built, the johnson street bridge had two separate bascules, the railway section and the highway section. the railway span was removed in 2012 after it was deemed to be in such a poor state of repair that it posed a danger to the pedestrians and cyclists who were using it and any marine traffic passing below it. the railway had not been used by a train since the e & n passe
Bascule_bridges Bridges_completed_in_1924 Buildings_and_structures_in_Victoria,_British_Columbia Railway_bridges_in_British_Columbia Road_bridges_in_British_Columbia