Old Kootenay Channel Bridge - 1958 - Creston, BC - Bridge Date Stones and Plaques on Waymarking.com

A long bridge, it is close to 200 metres in length. The old channel is now wetland and marsh at the low point of the Creston Valley. In order to create fertile farmland in the broad, flat valley, a system of dykes was created at the turn of the century. Washed out by floods more than once, more permanent dykes were finally put together in 1935, when better and larger equipment became available. This old channel, once the Kootenay River, lies too low to farm and has become part of the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area, an area dedicated to the preservation of wetland habitat.

The bridge was built as part of the extension of the Crowsnest Highway west from Creston. This section of the Crowsnest Highway was completed on October 8th, 1964, greatly shortening the route between Creston and points west, such as Salmo, Trail and Castlegar, with the new Kootenay Skyway, the highest all-weather pass in Canada. This was the final link in today's Crowsnest Highway.

Coordinates given are at the western end of the bridge. Safe parking is quite a distance away to the west, at West Creston Road, which leads to the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area interpretive centre and birdwatching area.

BTW - you may have noticed that down in the valley bottom it can occasionally get a touch foggy.

Date built or dedicated as indicated on the date stone or plaque.: 1958 Date stone, plaque location.: Wing wall at corner concrete railing pillar, each end of bridge, right side Road, body of water, land feature, etc. that the bridge spans.: Kootenay Valley Wetlands - Old Kootenay River Channel Website (if available): [Web Link] Parking (safe parking location): N 49° 07.727 W 116° 38.011

Visit Instructions:
Please provide an original picture of the location and some original words regarding your visit.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.