New Westminster Bridge

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New Westminster Bridge
New Westminster Swing Bridge.jpg
Coordinates 49°12′29″N122°53′39″W / 49.208167°N 122.894204°W / 49.208167; -122.894204 (New Westminster Bridge)
CarriesFreight and passenger trains
Originally, trains and automobiles
Crosses Fraser River
Locale New Westminster
Surrey
Owner Government of Canada
Maintained by Canadian National Railway
Characteristics
Design Swing bridge
MaterialSteel [1]
Pier constructionGranite [1]
Total length2,400 ft (731.5 m) (not including approaches) [1]
Longest span380 ft (120 m) [2] :E–3
No. of spans4
Clearance below 22 ft (6.7 m) [3] :38
Capacity60 trains per day [4]
Rail characteristics
No. of tracks 1
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)
Electrified No
History
Designer Waddel & Hedrick [1]
Construction startAugust 1902 [1]
OpenedJuly 23, 1904 [1]
Statistics
Daily traffic 46 freight trains per day [4]
Location
New Westminster Bridge

The New Westminster Bridge (also known as the New Westminster Rail Bridge (NSRW) [3] or the Fraser River Swing Bridge) is a swing bridge that crosses the Fraser River and connects New Westminster with Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

Contents

The bridge is owned by the Government of Canada, operated and maintained by the Canadian National Railway, with the Southern Railway of British Columbia (SRY), Canadian Pacific Kansas City, and BNSF Railway having track usage rights, [3] as do Amtrak's Cascades (with service to Portland and Seattle) and Via Rail's The Canadian (with service to Toronto).

History

Fire on the New Westminster Bridge in May 1982 TRAIN BRIDGE FIRE 1979-80 1.tif
Fire on the New Westminster Bridge in May 1982

The New Westminster Bridge was constructed in 1904 and formally opened on July 23 by the Lieutenant governor of British Columbia. [1] It was originally built with two decks; the lower deck was used for rail traffic while the upper deck was used for automobile traffic. [5]

Crossing the river prior to the construction of the New Westminster Bridge required using the K de K ferry [6] which would dock at the present day neighbourhood of South Westminster (formerly the historic community of Brownsville) located in the city of Surrey.

The toll for the upper bridge was 25 cents[ citation needed ] and created quite an uproar for farmers who found out quickly that by taking their livestock across on foot would cost them a quarter a head but if they put them in a truck it cost a quarter for the whole load.

The bridge was the preferred method of transport across the Fraser until the opening of the Pattullo Bridge in 1937. The upper deck was removed and the bridge was converted exclusively for rail use. On May 29, 1982, a significant fire broke out on the New Westminster Bridge. [7] On November 28, 1987, a barge struck the bridge. The resulting legal action of Canadian National Railway Co. v. Norsk Pacific Steamship Co. became a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision. [8] On June 28, 2011, a gravel barge struck the protection pier, span, and swing mechanism, which took the bridge out of service. Test trains began resuming operation over the bridge by early August. [9]

As of 2004, the speed limit for trains was 11 miles per hour (18 kilometres per hour), which had been increased from 8 mph (13 km/h). [3] :38

The bridge is a heavily used single-track railway that supports only low train speeds and is swung open for marine traffic for a significant portion of each day. Because of this situation, studies have been conducted to relocate the northern terminus of Amtrak's Cascades passenger train service from Pacific Central Station in downtown Vancouver southeast by 21 kilometres (13 mi) to Surrey. The proposed new terminus at the Skytrain rapid transit system's Scott Road Station is about 900 metres (3,000 ft) from the bridge. The location would allow additional round trips from Seattle, Washington to be added by avoiding the need to cross the Fraser River. [10] [11] [2] [12]

In the early 2020s, the Canadian National Railway completed seismic upgrades to the bridge. [13]

See also

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References

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