Trail opens Columbia River Skywalk
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
N 49° 05.721 W 117° 41.999
11U E 448899 N 5438291
Officially three days old as I write this, the new Columbia River Skywalk, a pedestrian suspension bridge, underwent its first "Grand Opening" on December 15, 2016. A second will be held in the spring of 2017.
Waymark Code: WMTNNQ
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 12/18/2016
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member NW_history_buff
Views: 0
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With all the pomp and ceremony due such an auspicious event, the mayor of Trail bit through the ribbon to officially open the Columbia River Skywalk shortly after 2 PM on the afternoon of December 15th, 2016. You see, it was so cold that day that his scissors snapped, leaving him to improvise in order that the ceremony continue, so he chewed through the ribbon, thereafter declaring the bridge OPEN. Columbia River Skywalk was the name chosen for the bridge in March of 2016.

Five years in the planning and building, the $15 million bridge was sufficiently important to the town engineer that, after five years of pouring over bridge details he postponed his retirement until after the bridge's completion. 300 metres in length, it is the third bridge to be built in the city. The first, a steel truss bridge, was built in 1911, the first bridge to span the Columbia River in the Trail area, replacing the previous means of crossing, a ferry. It is just a hundred metres downstream. The second, a four lane steel arch bridge replaced the old, single lane 1911 bridge in 1961. The second bridge is located upstream, about 1/2 mile to the northwest.

Supported by two tall steel towers standing on concrete piers and a pair of steel cables, the bridge was designed to also carry a sewer interceptor line (pipe) which was carried by the old vehicle bridge 100 metres to the east. Rather than restore the 1911 bridge, which was actually a popular idea in the city, city council chose to build this new bridge with the capacity co carry the pipeline. This almost certainly means that the old bridge will soon be torn down, to the dismay of much of the citizenry

Like the idiot I am, I completely forgot about the official opening of the bridge, missing the ceremonies on the fifteenth. Fortunately the local paper, the Trail Times (Established 1895) has a better memory and had their reporters on hand to cover this locally important story. Excerpts can be read below.

Trail opens Columbia River Skywalk

by Guy Bertrand - Trail Daily Times
posted Dec 16, 2016 at 10:46 AM

<target="_blank" HREF="http://www.traildailytimes.ca/breaking_news/406940916.html" title="Opening Ceremony for Columbia River Skywalk"> A project that began on a sunny afternoon in October 2015 was officially opened to the public on a frosty December day in 2016.

Over the course of the 427 days since breaking ground a new Trail landmark emerged as the Columbia River Skywalk welcomed its first pedestrians Thursday afternoon.

And while dignitaries and officials from Trail, Warfield, Rossland and the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) were on hand to cut the ribbon on the soft-opening of the $15-million bridge, the best reviews were left to approximately 200 people in attendance eager for their first trek across the 300-metre span.

After a couple of attempts at cutting the ribbon, the Trail Maple Leaf Band led the procession of pedestrians getting their first walk and view from the Skywalk. There were plenty of oohs and ahhs as the buzz of the crowd continued during the crossing.

The weight of several hundred people crossing at once allowed the bridge to showcase its flexibility and, of course, the views. Some noted it felt a bit like walking on a wharf while others noted a nice view of downtown, Red Mountain and the Canadian flag painted on the Esplanade wall.

For City of Trail engineer Warren Proulx, the ribbon cutting is the icing on the cake of his 39 years of working for the city. He has spent five years going over the bridge details and held off retiring until the project was completed. He explained that Thursday wasn’t actually his last day of work. He has some paperwork and training with his replacement to do over the next couple of months before walking off into retirement.

The city is putting together a video on the bridge construction that will be up for viewing on its website early in the new year.

Meanwhile another celebration is planned for the bridge with a grand opening in the works for Silver City Days in 2017.
From Trail Times

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Type of publication: Newspaper

When was the article reported?: 12/16/2016

Publication: Trail Times

Article Url: [Web Link]

Is Registration Required?: no

How widespread was the article reported?: local

News Category: Arts/Culture
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