Professional Documents
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Don Bergman, Civil Eng., COWI North America Ltd, Vancouver, Canada. Contact: dwb@cowi.com
DOI: 10.2749/101686616X1455
carries 1600 t of copper ore per hour, in 1986, the Alex Fraser Bridge bridge engineering practice. At incep-
210 m above the Similkameen Can- (Fig. 5) was the rst composite open tion, the joint decision to focus exclu-
yon. The Similkameen Ore Conveyor deck cable-stayed bridge constructed. sively on excellence in structural
Bridge, with a main span of 403 m, is Similar composite deck solutions have engineering with a focus on bridges
entirely supported by a lightweight since been utilized for many cable- was a key to success. Over time, the
high-strength network of cables for stayed bridges worldwide, proving the Peters increasingly gravitated towards
maximum cost efciency. effectiveness of the overall concept. their passion for bridge engineering.
Many of the details developed for the Under their leadership, the company
In 1981 came the opportunity to design
Alex Fraser Bridge have also been grew from strength to strength to
the Alex Fraser Bridge, a 930 m cable-
repeated worldwide. The Alex Fraser become highly regarded as specialists
stayed bridge with a main span of
Bridge put Buckland & Taylor on the for complex bridge projects. Within
465 m. Peter applied all of his accumu-
world stage and, in Peters words, that success, Peter was a driving force
lated experience to lead the design of
was a very signicant job, a very satis- in the development of the ingenuity
the worlds longest span cable-stayed
fying job and a world-leading job and analytical skills underlying some
bridge (Fig. 3). He was responsible for
for Canada on the global map. It of the very sophisticated bridge erec-
the signicant design and construct-
remained the longest span cable- tion projects including many cable-
ability innovations and advancements
stayed bridge in the Americas for stayed erection schemes, highline
incorporated into the design. The proj-
19 years, until the opening of the erection schemes, launching schemes,
ect included several world rsts in
Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridgeanother slide-ins and oat-ins undertaken by
cable-stayed bridge design and con-
project in which Peter played a key the company. Peters relentless focus
struction, and won many awards for its
design role. on high quality, technical excellence
engineering excellence. Characteristi-
and on-time and on-budget delivery
cally, the design focused on simplicity Together with Peter Buckland, Peter
has been a key to the remarkable suc-
and constructability. When completed Taylor developed a highly successful
cess of Buckland & Taylor over the
years.
Special Characteristics
Though Peter has worked on many
ground-breaking projects, core to his
belief is that the functionality of a
structure should lead the design.
Whilst pushing the boundaries of
structural engineering with highly
innovative projects is exciting, Peter
felt it should be done so based on the
strict needs of the project. Seeking
efciency within his projects often
drove Peter to innovative designs that
saved both time and cost. Peter rmly
believes that a design is nished when
there is nothing left to remove, rather
F ig . 4: Peter Taylor receiving Order of Canada with Governor General Michalle Jean than when there is nothing left to add.