Talk:Confederation Bridge

message: Can anyone add more info on the possible plans of contructing a tunnel and/or bridge across to the other side elsewhere? I am quite curious as to whether any steps have been taken to decide to build infrastructure links across the:
:*Strait of Messina
:*Cook Strait
:*Palk Strait
:*Strait of Tartary
:*Irish Sea
:*Strait of Bonifacio
:*Surigao and San Bernardino Straits
:*Hainan Strait
:*Strait of Georgia
:*Kvarken
:*Chacao Channel
:*Strait of Magellan
:*Bering Strait
Anyone with inside knowledge on any of these? I've posted similar requests elsewhere. Gruesome Twosome! 8v] //Big Adamsky 10:15, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Fixed links across elsewhere?

message: I noticed that there is only one photograph of the bridge in this article, and that one is from about 20,000 feet. I think this article would be well-served by another photograph at ground level.
I have what I think is an exceptional photo from an artistic and technical standpoint - taken 50m Rt of the base of the bridge - on the sandy beach on the NB side -a short stroll from the welcome center.  The bridge appears just to go off into infinity into the horizon . The water is like glass. There is a wonderful cirrus cloud pattern overhead. 
It's film -- not digital.  I have an extra copy if one of the principal creators of this article is interested in maybe evaluating it for yourself, and if it meets with your approval, scanning it into the article. I'm willing to mail it to you. Hokeman 15:16, 8 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: If possible, I'd suggest you be bold, scan it yourself if possible, and upload it (link at left) under a license you're comfortable with as the image's author. If that does not appeal, another user will hopefully volunteer to scan... Radagast 15:42, 12 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Photo of the bridge 

message: I couldn't help but notice the toll for the bridge is CDN$40.50 for cars. I checked this to be sure and it is indeed true. This is staggeringly high; I would be furious if I lived on PEI and finally got a bridge to the mainland only to find out the astronomical price for a trip. Why is the toll so high? The Vasco da Gama Bridge in Portugal is a little bit longer (17km) and cost about the same to build (price just given as $1 billion, assume it's USD). The toll is €2.15, collected in one direction only. This is about $3.25! What a huge difference! Is there anything published that has said why the price was so ridiculously high and if there was any outcry?--Analogue Kid 02:56, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: As an Islander, I agree, it is very high.  The toll schedule was established in the months prior to the bridge opening in spring 1997.  The ferry system charged fares but required a subsidy from the federal gov't because it did not make enough money on fares alone (very few ferry systems or public transportation systems do break even, at least in Canada with sparse population and big geography).  This top-up subsidy in the mid-1990s was around $40 million.  The agreement signed with SCI to privately finance the construction of the bridge for $1 billion, allows SCI to now receive the $40 million annual ferry subsidy from the feds for 35 years as a mortgage payment, so that in 2033 or around there, the gov't of Canada will own and take over operation of the bridge.  This pays off the construction bonds for $1 billion.   Until that time (2033), SCI is allowed to collect a toll which covers its operating costs and provides a profit to its investors.  This toll was set for a single automobile at the same rate as the ferry system charged for 1 car and 1 adult passenger ($17.50 each direction or $35.00 total).  This was what the bridge toll started at in 1997 and it is allowed to increase each year to the rate of inflation (CPI).  I remember that for the first 2 years there was no increase, then it jumped to $36.25, then $37.00 or $37.50, etc. until we're at this price, 10 years after it opened.  Hope this helps explain the high toll rate somewhat.Plasma east 12:59, 22 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Up until this past year, other vehicles were charged roughly the same rates that the ferry system had charged, which was passenger-based.  So a bus was charged something like $250-300 return trip over the bridge (crazy, but if you looked at a ferry, each passenger cost about $10 and they needed to track how many were on the ship for safety reasons...) and trucks were charged a very minimal $45 return (since freight rates were further subsidized to PEI to try to keep cost of living comparable with the rest of the Maritimes).  And for pedestrians and cyclists, who would normally have to pay the ferry a "walk on passenger" fare, the bridge charged nothing because they decided to operate a free shuttle service.  Anyway, last year, SCI finally changed this last vestige of the ferry fares, changing everything over to a system based on the number of axles a vehicle has - so trucks jumped higher (to their protest) and the buses reduced from $250-300 to slightly less than trucks. Pedestrians and cyclists now have to pay something like $2/return for the shuttle service.Plasma east 13:09, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

text: This is because of very low usage (because of very low population). Let say there are 50 000 vehicules crossing the bridge in Portugal each day. That's way more than PEI's 4000. 50000*3.25 is pretty close to 4000*40.50, by the way. So this is comparable. Both bridges will pay for themselves at about he same rate. --zorxd (talk) 17:53, 4 April 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Toll 

message: The map links in the bottom of the info box are not working but the ones linked from the lat/long link at the top right do work. I couldn't figure out how to fix them.
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=46.215278,-63.745833&spn=0.3,0.3&t=h&q=46.215278,-63.745833 - works
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=46%C2%B012%E2%80%B255%E2%80%B3N,63%C2%B044%E2%80%B245%E2%80%B3W&spn=0.015,0.025 - doesnt work
looks like the degree and other symbols are being sent in the url where they aren't understood by any of the mapping websites. I'm using firefox 2.0.0.3
--Dave1g 07:59, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Map and arieal photo links, not working 

message: Why is this section in here? It doesn't really have anything to do with the bridge and more has to do with PEI itself.--Crossmr 05:10, 30 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: This section refers to the history of transportation options crossing the Northumberland Strait at Abegweit Passage and other points.  This is related to the Confederation Bridge since these services were contributing factors to the call for a "fixed link" since the 1870s, leading to aborted development attempts in the 1950s and 1960s and finally culminating in the present structure in the 1990s.Plasma east 17:25, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  steamboats etc 

message: It should be mentioned that the French group Vinci built the bridge. I know it will hurt anglophones, but who gives a damn.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.45.180.152 (talk) 00:22, 15 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Builders 

message: The diagram makes it look more like a balanced cantilever structure. 82.46.109.233 (talk) 21:51, 4 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Design 

message: I reverted your addition of a wikilink to air draft and need a bit more room than the edit summary to explain. Air draft is a measurement of sea vessels incorporating their height above water plus their hull depth below water; it's not a measurement of bridge height. It's not accurate to say that the bridge's physical height above water is its air draft. According to the Transport Canada guidelines, vessels sailing under the Confederation Bridge must have a maximum air draft of 28 metres for the portions that are 40m above water, and 48m for the 60m navigation span. I'm not sure if we normally include those measurements in bridge articles. Ivanvector's squirrel (trees/nuts) 12:57, 11 February 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: The link should have been Air draft#Clearance below. I have seen it used in all articles about bridges over navigable waters. eg Sydney Harbour Bridge, London Bridge, Suez Canal Bridge etc. Peter Horn User talk 16:14, 11 February 2021 (UTC)
replies: text:  In all cases see the info box. Add Welland Canal Bridge 11 Peter Horn User talk 16:35, 11 February 2021 (UTC)
replies: text:  I see what you mean, and also I see I referred to air draft incorrectly (I described deep draft), but now the infobox has two different measurements for the main navigation span and the near-shore spans. The main navigation span has a clearance of 60m, corresponding to a maximum air draft of 48m. The near-shore spans are lower and have a clearance of 40m (max air draft 28m). I corrected both to the clearance measurement, since that's what the link refers to and what the other articles seem to follow. Ivanvector's squirrel (trees/nuts) 17:15, 18 February 2021 (UTC)

text: Make that deep draft. There is also clearance above which only applies to truss bridges such as the Bordeaux Railway Bridge or any bridge that has a structure above the deck such as the Lachapelle Bridges. However in many cases the clearance above is not given. Peter Horn User talk 17:59, 18 February 2021 (UTC)
replies: text:  As a yachtsman, air draft is described as the height of the obstruction from the waterline of the vessel to the highest point of the superstructure. It is measured at High High Water Springs tide. (HHWS on nautical charts.) For our vessel, that number is 41'. For example, the St. Peters Canal here in Nova Scotia has an air draught of 105' or 32 metres because of power lines. Hope this is of help.   Aloha27  talk  18:24, 18 February 2021 (UTC)
replies: text:   Very helpful indeed, dead on. Peter Horn User talk 18:55, 18 February 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Air draft 

message: Putting this CBC News source here re: renaming the bridge to Epekwitk Crossing, it might be useful. LilianaUwU (talk / contributions) 18:20, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Rename of the bridge?