Quebec Bridge, Canada
Posted by: 
hykesj
N 46° 44.993 W 071° 17.218
19T E 325325 N 5179910
The Quebec Bridge, spanning the St. Lawrence River near the city of Quebec, was the longest bridge in the world when it was completed in 1917.
Waymark Code: WMPM53
Location: Québec, Canada
Date Posted: 09/17/2015
Views: 22
Over 100 years old and virtually unchanged from its original design, the Quebec Bridge stands as a tribute to early twentieth century engineering and construction practice and innovation. At over 3200 ft. long, it was the longest bridge in the world when completed in 1917. It’s still the longest cantilever style bridge in the world. Primarily designed as a railroad bridge, it currently carries three lanes of automobile traffic, a single railroad line and a pedestrian walkway. It is designated as an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark and is also a National Historic Site of Canada.
This is actually the second bridge built at this site. The first one was designed by the Phoenix Bridge Company of Phoenixville, PA. Now if you’re setting out to build the longest bridge in the world you better know what you’re doing but apparently, some of the folks at Phoenix, along with some consulting engineers, did not. On August 29, 1907, their bridge collapsed under its own weight during construction killing 75 workers (making this the site of the worst bridge construction disaster ever).
After cleanup and various official inquiries, a new bridge was designed and construction commenced, this time by the St. Lawrence Bridge Company of Montreal. The new design was very similar to the original but utilized almost double the amount of steel. In spite of the precautions, this endeavor met with disaster too. On Sept. 11, 1916 while the central truss structure was being lifted into position, it gave way and crashed into the river below where it remains till this day. Thirteen more workers lost their lives in the accident.
Undeterred by these unfortunate events (it was determined that the problem was caused by the lifting equipment and not the design of the bridge itself), construction of a new central span was started almost immediately. It was successfully lifted into place on Sept. 20, 1917 finally completing the span on the world’s longest cantilever bridge.
The stamp was part of the 1928-29 set of regular issues featuring a portrait of King George V on the low values and various scenes on the higher values. It’s a wonderful set that also contains the famous 50c “Bluenose” which some maintain is the most beautiful stamp ever issued.
Stamp Issuing Country: Canada
Date of Issue: 8-Jan-1929
Denomination: 12 cents
Color: gray
Stamp Type: Single Stamp
Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]
|
Visit Instructions:
To post a visit log for this category, you must visit the actual site of the waymark. Post at least one photo that you personally took of the site if at all possible. If you cannot provide a photo for some reason, your visit will still be welcome.
You do NOT need to be a stamp collector to visit the waymark site, nor do you have to provide a photo of the stamp. Just having a copy of the stamp in question, however, is not sufficient; you must personally visit the site.