Alexandra Bridge

The Royal Alexandra Interprovincial Bridge is a steel truss cantilever bridge spanning the Ottawa River between Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. It is known locally as both the "Alexandra Bridge" and the "Interprovincial Bridge".

History

The bridge was constructed by the Canadian Pacific Railway between 1898 and 1900. Four barges were built to move steel beams into position. During the winter (1899–1900) workmen toiled day and night chopping channels to keep the ice clear for the barges to pass so that work could continue on the superstructure. Considerable construction delays were caused by the severe winter conditions. By September 1900 the four fixed support spans were complete. The Canadian Society of Civil Engineers held its annual meeting in Ottawa in order that its members might tour the bridge works and see the preparations being made for placing the centre span. The bridge's main cantilever centre span was, at the time of construction, the longest in Canada and the fourth longest in the world. Both records are now held by the Quebec Bridge. The centre span was successfully put in place on October 7, and a locomotive made a trial run on December 12, 1900. On February 18, 1901 the bridge was officially inaugurated as the Interprovincial Bridge as it had been built by the Ottawa Interprovincial Bridge Company. The name was changed in September 1901 to the "Royal Alexandra Bridge" in honour of the new Queen during the visit of the Duke of Cornwall and York, later King George V.

Alexandra Bridge (disambiguation)

Alexandra Bridge may refer to:

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Alexandra Bridge Provincial Park

Alexandra Bridge Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located in the Fraser Canyon approximately two kilometres (one mile) north of Spuzzum and 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Hope.

This small 55 ha (136 acre) park is centred on the site of the original Cariboo Wagon Road bridge over the Fraser River. The park was established in 1984 because of its historical qualifications, it has picnic tables but no camping. Public access is via a trail from a parking lot on the east side of the Fraser, as the old portion of the pre-modernization Cariboo Highway, which used the bridge, is no longer open to the public..

The Nlaka'pamux and Sto:lo First Nations have inhabited the area for over 9000 years. The first white persons known to have visited the site were Simon Fraser and his crew during their expedition down the Fraser Canyon in 1808. Situated at a narrows in the canyon, with room for the necessary abutments, the site was an important fishing site for the Sto:lo and Nlaka'pamux First Nations peoples. Like all such locations in the Fraser Canyon (which are many), there was a large native village on the west bank just downstream from the bridge site in pre-railway times. Fish-drying racks can still be seen at the location today, and were visible in historic photographs from early times.

Alexandra Bridge (Trans-Canada)

The Alexandra Bridge is a steel arch-span bridge crossing the Fraser River on the north side of Spuzzum, British Columbia and 39 km from Hope, on the Trans-Canada Highway in the Fraser Canyon region of southern British Columbia, Canada. It was constructed between 1960 and 1964 and is the third structure in the area named the Alexandra Bridge.

Built as part of the modernization of the earlier highway by the British Columbia Ministry of Highways during the late 1950s and early 1960s, it replaced the Alexandra Suspension Bridge of 1926, just upstream, which was part of the reconstruction of the Cariboo Wagon Road which was renamed the Fraser Canyon Highway in 1924-25. This second Alexandra Bridge, which itself replaced the original Alexandra Suspension Bridge of 1863 (destroyed in 1894 and remains dismantled in 1912), is still in existence as part of the Alexandra Bridge Provincial Park and has not seen automobile traffic since 1964.

Coordinates: 49°42′5″N 121°24′36″W / 49.70139°N 121.41000°W / 49.70139; -121.41000