Sheep Creek bridge - Salmo, BC
Posted by: 
T0SHEA
N 49° 08.476 W 117° 15.484
11U E 481177 N 5443192
A real, honest to goodness, Bailey bridge south of Salmo, BC. It crosses the historic Sheep Creek, the site of much mining excitement over a century ago.
Waymark Code: WMG2KN
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 01/04/2013
Views: 1
This 80 or so foot Bailey Bridge is on Airport Road, just over six km. south of the town of Salmo. As is, I suspect, the norm, this is a single lane bridge. This isn't a problem, as it parallels Highway 3 and serves only local traffic. Though it does show a slight sag from many years of use it's a pretty stout bridge as it has a load limit of 57,000 kg, or 125,400 pounds.
As I was on the bridge taking pix, a local from way back, out for his daily walk, came by and we talked about the bridge for a bit. Though he couldn't remember exactly when this bridge was built, he did know that it had been there for at least 30 years, and that the wood decking had been replaced at least three times already.
As is the case with many Bailey Bridges, it was a replacement for the previous bridge. A wood truss bridge, they had somehow managed to burn it down many years ago, but he didn't know the circumstances of its demise. This one was quickly thrown up as a temporary replacement. After a few years the powers that be decided it was good enough, so here it remains.
It's on a local traffic road, not very busy, so one can just pull over to the side at the bridge to take pictures.