First Bridges
Rivers punctuate the vast plains of southern Manitoba. For generations of prairie travelers on well-worn oxcart trails, shallow river fords were important gathering sites. One such example is the Assiniboine River Rapids, east of Brandon, that formalized the western boundary for Treaty No. 1 territory. With the influx of European farmers in the late-19th century, ferries came into operation as a means of crossing deeper waterways. In time, with the construction of railways, bridges enabled safe, fast, efficient, year-round river crossings. The implementation of bridge technology by engineers is therefore an integral part of the transportation history of the West.
First Bridge
The first major bridges in Manitoba were constructed in the early 1880s in the greater Winnipeg area. Between 1880 and 1883, Edward Worrell Jarvis (1846–1894) designed three bridges in Winnipeg: the Louise and Broadway Bridges over the Red River and the Main Street Bridge over the Assiniboine River1.
The first of which was the Louise Bridge over the Red River. It was funded by the City of Winnipeg to entice the Canadian Pacific Railway to relocate their crossing of the river within city limits. The bridge also served a dual purpose as a cart and pedestrian bridge for local traffic. It served until 1904 when a new railway bridge was built nearby. In 1911, the bridge’s substructure was reused for a new vehicular bridge and the superstructure was replaced.
First Non-Railway Bridge
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The first major phase of non-railway bridge construction in Winnipeg also occurred between 1881 and 1882. A private company (the Red River and Assiniboine Bridge Company, a subsidiary of the Hudson’s Bay Company), built the first two non-railway bridges in Winnipeg. The first Main Street Bridge over the Assiniboine River was initially operated as a toll bridge. Within a year, the bridge was purchased by the City of Winnipeg, replaced in 1897, and again in 1931.
First Red River Bridge
The last of the earliest major bridges, erected in 1882, was originally called the Broadway Bridge. It was constructed by the same company that constructed the first Main Street Bridge. It connected Provencher Boulevard in St. Boniface to Broadway in Winnipeg. Unfortunately, the first incarnation lasted only four days before it was destroyed by shifting ice. Rebuilt the following year, the bridge stood until 1908 when construction of the Union Station and rail yards at The Forks blocked road access permanently. A new bridge constructed in 1917, with an alignment that angled northward, redirected traffic towards Portage Avenue. The bridge no longer connected with Broadway; so, it was renamed the Provencher Bridge.
First Osbourne Street Bridge
The first Osbourne Street Bridge over the Assiniboine River was originally also built in 1882, and then replaced in 1912.
First Norwood Bridge
The next phase of bridge building started in 1890, with the first Norwood Bridge constructed as a toll bridge by a private company. The City of St. Boniface purchased it in 1904 and replaced it in 1931. A pontoon bridge over the Red River gave pedestrians access to the amusement park on the south side (now the residential neighbourhood of Kingston Row) as of 1891. It was later replaced with a permanent, privately-owned toll bridge.
First Maryland Street Bridge and Salter Street Bridge
In 1894, the first Maryland Street Bridge was constructed and, four years later, the first Salter Street Bridge was constructed over the Canadian Pacific Railway yards.
Rural Bridges
Compared to the pace of bridge development in and around Winnipeg during the late-19th century, bridges in rural Manitoba were rare, so that long-distance transportation was largely the purview of the railways. Rural roads were few and poor. A strong push for better, more driveable roads coincided with the arrival of gasoline-powered automobiles in the early-20th century. In 1909, the Manitoba Good Roads Association was established to promote the development of a good road network throughout the province. In February 1914, the provincial government passed The Good Roads Act to help foster the development of rural roads. It created a three-person Good Roads Board led by Manitoba’s first Highway Commissioner, Archibald McGillivray (a civil engineer for whom Winnipeg’s McGillivray Boulevard is named), along with former Winnipeg Mayor Thomas Deacon (a civil engineer for whom Deacon Reservoir is named), and Virden-area farmer and municipal Reeve Charles Ivens.
In April 1914, one of the Board’s first actions was to hire Manson A. Lyons as its Chief Engineer. Construction of bridges in rural Manitoba began in earnest shortly after Lyons’ hiring but was limited somewhat by shortages of materials and labour during the First World War. Seventy-nine bridges were built in 1916 and 90 were built in 1918. By the end of 1919, the Good Roads Board had overseen the construction of 384 bridges around the province in the five years since it was established. By 1936, the total stood at 1,578 bridges, 49% of which were made from concrete and 44% made from timber and the balance were steel. The construction of these bridges greatly enhanced the usability of rural roads and set the groundwork for the creation of the provincial highway network, hastening the demise of railway lines and a corresponding decline of many small prairie towns.
References
- Manitoba History: Edward Worrell Jarvis in Western Canada, Sam McBride, Number 78, Summer 2015, Manitoba Historical Society,
https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/78/jarvis_ew.shtml
Compiled by
Posted by Glen N. Cook, PEng (SM), FEC
