This was the first auto bridge built across the Kootenay River in the Castlegar area. Its purpose was to connect the village of Brilliant with its agricultural properties on the other side of the river and to other communities at Dolina Ootischenia.
Restored, redecked and rejuvenated, the bridge now is the focal point of the park surrounding it and is part of a walking trail passing through the park.
This is one of the few footbridges one will walk across that is, at the same time, a
National Historic Site.
The bridge consisted of two paired concrete towers supporting massive steel cables from which was suspended a structural steel wood-surfaced deck. The bridge design and supervision of construction was undertaken by a Vancouver firm while the bridge itself was built entirely by Doukhobor work crews using traditional hand-tools and techniques. Construction was completed in a remarkable period of only seven months at a cost of $60,000 dollars, approximately 2/3 of which was financed by the Doukhobors and 1/3 by the provincial government. It served the local traffic needs of the Doukhobor CCUB and later the USCC community as well as other local and regional residents, for over 50 years until it was finally closed to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the late 1960s.
Replaced and overshadowed by a modern highway bridge, the Brilliant Suspension Bridge has been derelict since then, but it now is destined to play a part in the future development of the local cultural landscape, with its recent restoration and preservation as a Doukhobor heritage symbol as well as for its role as a functional component of a wider community recreational plan. Thanks to the diligent work of the Restoration Committee, the help of the Historical Services Branch of the BC Government and the support of the local regional district and municipal governments, the Brilliant Suspension Bridge has finally received status as a Canadian National Heritage Site.
From the USCC Doukhobors