Topic · 1986–2009
Lights and rebuild
Published
When did the Lions Gate Bridge get its lights, and when was it rebuilt?
The main cables were first lit on 19 February 1986, with a string of 170 mercury lamps known as Gracie’s Necklace. The lights switched to LED in July 2009. Between September 2000 and September 2001 crews replaced the whole suspended deck in 54 sections, and the bridge stayed open by day.
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The record
19 February 1986
The bridge’s main cables light up for the first time. A string of 170 mercury lamps, 100 W each, runs along the cables. Premier Bill Bennett gives the signal from the ferry Queen of Tsawwassen. The British-born engineer Ian Hayward designed the lights, the firm CHE Williams strung them, and the Guinness family paid for them. The lights are called Gracie’s Necklace, after Grace McCarthy, who pushed the idea.
April 1997
After public consultation that began in 1993, the province invites bids for a new four-lane crossing. It is never built: in 1998 the province settles on rebuilding the bridge, still with three lanes.
9–10 September 2000
Crews start replacing the suspended deck section by section. The bridge closes at night, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., and on a few weekends. By day it stays open.
29–30 September 2001
Crews place the last deck section. In all they have replaced the whole suspended structure with 54 sections. The designers had planned 47.
July 2009
The bridge lights switch to LED. They use about 90 percent less energy and save about $30,000 a year.
Sources
- S109 Lions Gate Bridge (article, wikitext as of 2026-10-23) · Wikipedia, 2026
- S034 Minister of Transportation and Highways Report for the Fiscal Year 1985/86 (p.238) · Province of British Columbia, 1986
- S070 North Shore News, 'Bridge lights brighten the way 10 years' · North Shore News (via NSDL), Layne Christensen, 1996
- S119 Grace McCarthy (article) · Wikipedia, 2026
- S107 Major Ian Aubrey Hayward, P.Eng. (Ret'd) - obituary · Canadian Military Engineers Association, 2017
- S035 Lions Gate Bridge LED lighting to save $30,000 a year · BC Hydro, 2009
- S169 From the Miss604 Flickr Pool: Lions Gate Bridge Lights · Miss604, 2012
- S006 The Lions' Gate Bridge Suspended Span Replacement (TAC 2009 conference paper) · Darryl Matson, Buckland & Taylor Ltd., 2009
- S058 Building a Vancouver Icon: The Lions Gate Bridge (online exhibit, 34 pages) · MONOVA: Museum & Archives of North Vancouver, n.d.
- S003 Lions' Gate Bridge - National Historic Civil Engineering Site plaque · Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE), 2006
- S001 Lions Gate Bridge National Historic Site of Canada (Canadian Register of Historic Places, id 11711) · Parks Canada / HSMBC, 2009
- S145 Time Traveller: This is how the entire deck of Lions Gate Bridge was replaced · North Shore News, 2022
- S078 The Choice of Alternatives in the Replacement of the Lion's Gate Bridge (MA thesis, Geography) · Mike Belyea, Simon Fraser University, 1998
- S073 North Shore News - three-lane plan endorsed by North Vancouver District · North Shore News (via NSDL), Martin Millerchip, 1997