Lethbridge Viaduct

The High Level Bridge crosses the Oldman River coulee at Lethbridge and is one thousand six hundred and twenty-four metres long and about ninety-six metres at its highest, which makes it the longest and highest railway trestle of its type in the world. It was built between 1907 and 1909 to replace an older route whose many wooden trestles, built to last only about ten years, were expensive to run, using around twelve thousand tonnes of steel. Canadian Pacific still runs freight across it. The coulee below is a park with river-bottom cottonwood forest, and Fort Whoop-Up, a reconstruction of a notorious whisky trading post, sits under the span.

History

The earlier crossing of the Oldman River was a wooden trestle 894 m long and 20 m high, on a line of steep grades and many bridges designed to last only about 10 years, so in 1905 the Canadian Pacific Railway decided on a new route to the north on an easier gradient. The viaduct was designed by the railway's bridge department in Montreal and built under John Edward Schwitzer from the summer of 1907; about 100 workers raised the steel from mid-August 1908 with a travelling crane built on site, the last girder was placed in June 1909, riveting was finished that August, and the whole cost $1,334,525 (Wikipedia, Lethbridge Viaduct).

Highlights

• The full span - 1.6 kilometres of steel trestle across the coulee.
• The height - ninety-six metres above the river at the deepest point.
• The passing freights - CP trains still crossing the structure.
• Fort Whoop-Up - a reconstructed whisky trading post below the bridge.

When to go

Year-round; sunset from the coulee puts the structure in silhouette. Trains cross irregularly, so seeing one is a matter of luck or patience.

Before you go

The bridge cannot be walked or crossed on foot; it is a working railway. Viewing is from the park below or the rim. Train frequency is unpredictable.

Nearby

Nikka Yuko garden lies east; Fort Macleod is northwest.

Key facts