This steel truss bridge over the Red River in Winnipeg, measuring 1180 feet long and 30 feet wide, consisted of four fixed steel spans and one 130-foot Strauss Bascule life span designed to permit passage of ships on the Red River.
The bridge was constructed between 1910 and 1911, with concrete piers constructed by the firm of Thomas Kelly and Sons and the steel superstructure built by the Dominion Bridge Company at a cost of about $380,000. It was a joint venture between the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and the Canadian Northern Railway (later the Canadian National Railway).
CNR Main Line Bridge under construction (1911)
Source: Manitoba Free Press, 25 February 1911, page 18.
CNR Main Line Bridge (circa 1913)
Source: Sessional Papers of the Dominion of Canada, 1913, Internet Archive.
CNR Main Line Bridge (May 2004)
Source: George Penner
CNR Main Line Bridge (2005)
Source: George Penner
CNR Main Line Bridge (2006)
Source: George Penner
Aerial view of the CNR Main Line Bridge (October 2024)
Source: George PennerSite Location (lat/long): N49.89558, W97.13078
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Manitoba Business: Kelly Brothers / Manitoba Construction Company / Kelly Brothers and Mitchell / Thomas Kelly and Sons
Manitoba Business: Dominion Bridge Company
“Building notes,” Winnipeg Tribune, 13 November 1909, page 16.
“The Red River bridge,” Winnipeg Tribune, 5 February 1910, page 1.
“Contract for new bridges,” Winnipeg Tribune, 30 April 1910, page 10.
“Build fine bridges,” Manitoba Free Press, 5 July 1910, page 20.
“Transcontinental bridges,” Manitoba Free Press, 25 February 1911, page 18.
Sessional Papers of the Dominion of Canada, 1913, Internet Archive.
We thank George Penner for providing information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Jordan Makichuk.
Page revised: 4 October 2024
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