Grand Trunk Bridge (Saskatoon)

Bridge in Canada

Grand Trunk Bridge

Grand Trunk Bridge over the South Saskatchewan River

Coordinates| 52°05′50″N 106°41′46″W﻿ / ﻿52.09722°N 106.69611°W﻿ / 52.09722; -106.69611
Carries| Canadian National Railway tracks
Crosses| South Saskatchewan River
Locale| Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Official name| Grand Trunk Bridge
Other name(s)| CN Railway Bridge
Maintained by| City of Saskatoon
Preceded by| Gordie Howe Bridge
Followed by| Outlook Bridge (R.M. of Rudy No. 284)
Characteristics
Design| Truss bridge
Material| Steel, concrete
History
Construction end| 1908
Opened| March 1908
Location

The Grand Trunk Bridge is a Canadian steel trestle railway bridge that spans the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It was built in 1908 as part of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway project.[1][2] The GTP was merged into the Canadian National Railway (CN) in 1920; as such, the structure is also referred to informally as the CN Railway Bridge.

1916 coloured postcard of the Grand Trunk Bridge

The bridge is the southernmost of the city's two rail bridges and is situated between the Queen Elizabeth Power Station on the upstream (west) side and Diefenbaker Park on the downstream (east) side.

CN placed a chain link fence on both sides of the bridge as a result of people trespassing on the walkways. Based upon anecdotal evidence – that is, visual inspection of city maps – it appears to have the longest span of any Saskatoon bridge. The 2012 southwest extension of the city's Circle Drive freeway included the Gordie Howe Bridge, built parallel to the Grand Trunk Bridge.

In 2016, the city's original Traffic Bridge, opened in 1907, was disassembled to make way for a replacement bridge. As of that moment, the Grand Trunk Bridge became Saskatoon's oldest surviving bridge (it opened several months before the city's second rail bridge).

## See also

[edit]

* List of crossings of the South Saskatchewan River
* List of bridges in Canada

## References

[edit]

1. ^ O'Brien, Jeff; Ruth W. Millar; William P. Delainey (2006). Roberta Coulter (ed.). Saskatoon: A History in Photographs. Coteau Books. p. 12\. ISBN 1-55050-336-7.
2. ^ "City of Bridges" (PDF). City of Saskatoon. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 12, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2010.

## External links

[edit]

Media related to Grand Trunk Bridge (Saskatoon) at Wikimedia Commons

Crossings of the South Saskatchewan River

| Upstream
Skytrail
| Grand Trunk Bridge
| Downstream
Gordie Howe Bridge

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