A steel through truss bridge over the Lee River in the Rural Municipality of Lac du Bonnet consisted of two spans, one 153 feet in length and the other 100 feet, was constructed in 1908 by the Winnipeg River Railway Company for use in shuttling construction workers and materials to the site of the Pointe du Bois Generating Station and later to the Slave Falls Generating Station.
The longer span was constructed originally in 1887 for use on the Canadian Pacific Railway main line at Terrebonne, Quebec. It was purchased by the company at a cost of $4,840. The shorter span was located on the St. Louis and Southwest Railway at Pine Bluff, Arkansas and was purchased at a cost of $2,992. Along with piers, the total cost of the bridge was $13,342. By 1915, the bridge was deemed inadequate for the loads put on it so two new spans were built by the Dominion Bridge Company of Winnipeg.
In 1962, the company ceased operations on the railway between Lac du Bonnet and the Pointe du Bois Generating Station, after which the bridge was used solely by automobile traffic until a new bridge was built to the south of it, at which time the steel spans were removed. All that remains of the former bridge are its concrete piers.
Steel through truss bridge over the Lee River (no date)
Source: Lac du Bonnet and District Museum
Steel through truss bridge over the Lee River (no date)
Source: Lac du Bonnet and District Museum
Concrete piers of the former steel through truss bridge over the Lee River (March 2023)
Source: Jordan MakichukSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.27044, W95.87840
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Manitoba Business: Dominion Bridge Company
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Pointe du Bois Generating Station (Winnipeg River, Whiteshell Provincial Park)
Tramway to the Pointe: The Winnipeg Hydro Tramway, 1907-1996 by Peter J. Lacey, 1996.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 17 July 2023
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