This concrete arch bridge, near Margaret in the Rural Municipality of Riverside (now the Rural Municipality of Prairie Lakes), was built to convey Provincial Road 346 over McKinnon’s Ravine. Its construction was necessitated by a flood in the spring of 1916, during which the volume of water exceeded the capacity of an existing concrete culvert bridge measuring 8 feet by 6 feet by 46 feet. As a result, a 78-feet portion of the road’s northern embankment was washed away.
Designed by engineers of the Manitoba Good Roads Board using Plan 202, the new bridge was constructed between September 1916 and early 1917 using day labour under foreman Joseph Keely. It used 3,600 feet of reinforced steel from the Dominion Bridge Company with cutting and bending done by a local blacksmith. The bridge is 20 feet wide and 86 feet long. The span of the arch measures 30 feet long with a rise of 15 feet. The original concrete culvert bridge was left in place as engineers believed there was no benefit to remove it. The new bridge was completed at a total cost of $6,301.
The bridge was later bypassed by a steel culvert and embankment to the west and the two old bridges are now abandoned.
Concrete arch bridge no. 202 under construction near Margaret (circa 1917)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Highways Collection B144
Concrete arch bridge no. 202 under construction near Margaret (1917)
Source: Contract Record and Engineering Review, 8 August 1917, page 679.
Underside of concrete arch bridge no. 202 at McKinnon’s Ravine near Margaret (1917)
Source: Contract Record and Engineering Review, 8 August 1917, page 682.
Concrete arch bridge no. 202 at McKinnon’s Ravine near Margaret (May 2015)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Concrete arch bridge no. 202 overlying a former concrete culvert bridge (May 2015)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Concrete arch bridge no. 202 at McKinnon’s Ravine near Margaret (May 2015)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Concrete arch bridge no. 202 at McKinnon’s Ravine near Margaret (August 2019)
Source: Rose Kuzina
Concrete arch bridge no. 202 at McKinnon’s Ravine near Margaret (September 2020)
Source: George Penner
Concrete arch bridge no. 202 at McKinnon’s Ravine near Margaret (May 2021)
Source: Rose Kuzina
Concrete arch bridge no. 202 at McKinnon’s Ravine near Margaret (May 2021)
Source: Rose Kuzina
Concrete arch bridge no. 202 at McKinnon’s Ravine near Margaret (November 2024)
Source: Jordan MakichukSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.41345, W99.85637
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Manitoba Business: Dominion Bridge Company
“Manitoba’s permanent bridge building” by Patrick O’Donnell Burke-Gaffney, Contract Record and Engineering Review, Volume 31, Number 32 (8 August 1917), pages 678-683.
Manitoba historic bridges inventory book (1920s), copy in possession of Gordon Goldsborough on loan from David Ennis.
We thank Rose Kuzina and George Penner for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Jordan Makichuk.
Page revised: 20 February 2025
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