28 | SUMMER 2019 ADVANTAGE STEEL FEATURE The whistler bridge is a 420’ clear span that rests on four KISWIRE Hylift K16 - 2” round cables. The cables were strung from just west of the top of the peak chair to the West Ridge. Once the bridge is put up and you get to the end of the bridge, there is a cantilever viewing platform that extends 40’ from the cliff face that you can hang out over to look down onto Whistler Village and the valley below, with Blackcomb in the distance. The steel is all modelled and fabricated in George Third & Son’s steel shop. The 1703 bridge parts were fabricated, sent for galvanizing, and brought back for test fitting and final inspection, before shipping to the site. Most pieces were trucked to the top of the mountain, with some of the larger pieces brought up and installed by helicopter. The smaller pieces were assembled at the top of the mountain and put onto the cables one basket assembly at a time, and slid across the cables until forming the suspension bridge that spanned the full 420’. Assembling the bridge baskets on the mountain top started June 10, 2018, with Mother Nature once again bringing snow to the top of Whistler. It looks like winter in the pictures, but it was the start of summer. When it came time for the viewing platform installation, the main challenge was to bring in and install all the parts using a specialized Kaman K-MAX helicopter. It is a helicopter with intermeshing rotors, optimized for external cargo load operations, and is able to lift a payload of over 6,000 pounds, which is more than the helicopter’s empty weight. We only had a Installation halfway, June 2018. “Inour109yearsofsteelfabricatingthiswasoneofourmostbreathtaking installationsever.” Geordie Third, GM, George Third & Son “It’sbeenfantasticworkingwithGTS!” Ryan Foster, Axis Mountain Technical