CPR Bridge - Castlegar, BC - Railroad Bridges on Waymarking.com

When the Columbia & Kootenay Railroad arrived in Castlegar around 1896, the major venue for commercial and passenger traffic in the area was the Columbia River. It was the Highway for several sternwheelers, all of which were owned by Canadian Pacific by that time. Canadian Pacific bought this railroad and continued it west to Grand Forks prior to construction of this bridge.

As the railroad entered Castlegar on the north side of the Columbia, a bridge was necessary in order to access points south, most notably the Cominco lead/zinc/gold smelter(which the CPR also owned at the time) about 25 km to the south, down the Columbia River Valley. In order to allow the paddlewheelers free passage, it was deemed necessary to include a movable section in the bridge. The bridge itself wasn't built until 1902.

However, there was no longer a need for river traffic south of Castlegar and the sternwheelers ran only north from to Castlegar, as far north as Revelstoke. As a result, it is very likely that the swing section of this bridge was never actually used.

This 700 foot steel bridge is built of three sections, two truss sections and the movable section. the bridge rests on five mortared stone piers in the Columbia.

The best view of the bridge is from where we took these pix. Follow Old Mill Rd. south off Broadwater Rd., which is a bit east of the north end of the Castlegar-Robson bridge. Drive under the railroad bridge to a parking lot. N 49 19.859 W 117 39.730
This will also get you to the Waldie Environmental Reserve.

For the benchmark hunters, 470J is in the other(south) end of the bridge.

Bridge Type: Truss Bridge Usage: Railroad Moving Bridge: Swing Bridge (pivots to the side)

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