Grand Trunk Bridge (Saskatoon) Explained

Bridge Name:Grand Trunk Bridge
Official Name:Grand Trunk Bridge
Other Name:CN Railway Bridge
Carries:Canadian National Railway tracks
Crosses:South Saskatchewan River
Locale:Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Maint:City of Saskatoon
Preceded:Gordie Howe Bridge
Followed:Outlook Bridge (R.M. of Rudy No. 284)
Design:Truss bridge
Material:Steel, concrete
Complete:1908
Open:March 1908
Coordinates:52.0972°N -106.6961°W

The Grand Trunk Bridge is a Canadian steel trestle railway bridge that spans the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It was built in 1908 as part of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway project.[1] [2] The GTP was merged into the Canadian National Railway (CN) in 1920; as such, the structure is also referred to informally as the CN Railway Bridge.

The bridge is the southernmost of the city's two rail bridges and is situated between the Queen Elizabeth Power Station on the upstream (west) side and Diefenbaker Park on the downstream (east) side.

CN placed a chain link fence on both sides of the bridge as a result of people trespassing on the walkways. Based upon anecdotal evidence – that is, visual inspection of city maps – it appears to have the longest span of any Saskatoon bridge. The 2012 southwest extension of the city's Circle Drive freeway included the Gordie Howe Bridge, built parallel to the Grand Trunk Bridge.

In 2016, the city's original Traffic Bridge, opened in 1907, was disassembled to make way for a replacement bridge. As of that moment, the Grand Trunk Bridge became Saskatoon's oldest surviving bridge (it opened several months before the city's second rail bridge).

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: O'Brien , Jeff . Roberta Coulter . Ruth W. Millar . William P. Delainey . Saskatoon: A History in Photographs . 2006 . Coteau Books . 1-55050-336-7 . 12.
  2. Web site: City of Bridges . City of Saskatoon . PDF . 2010-03-25 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120312091306/http://www.saskatoon.ca/DEPARTMENTS/Community%20Services/PlanningDevelopment/Documents/Development_Review/city_of_bridges.pdf . 2012-03-12 .