The story of the bridges that have served the district of Princeton over the years is long and complicated. This is but one small chapter.
First, a little background. A wooden “wagon” bridge, aligned with the south end of Bridge street, crossing the Similkameen River and leading to Copper Mountain was erected in 1900, after the spring freshet. This bridge would virtually intersect the new bridge for the V.V. & E. railway on it’s west end and, in fact, needed to be raised to accommodate the railway grade in 1908. The wagon bridge was removed in 1920 when it became redundant due to the recently completed railway spur line to the mine crossing the river near the tunnel west of Princeton.
Of special note in this photo are the tipple for the coal mine at the foot of Bridge Street and the houses along Edgecliffe Avenue, which were all moved or destroyed to accommodate Highway 3.
Construction of the first bridge facing east to west was completed on December 1, 1909, originally for the V.V.&E. railway. This was a Howe Truss wooden bridge which served that railway until the spring of 1934, when a section of track was washed out at “Norman’s” and not repaired. The abandoned railway bridge was washed out and fell into the river in the great flood of May 1948. That bridge was burned in place to protect structures downstream. Until 1949, the road between Princeton and Hedley was the Old Hedley Road that is still in use today.
With the construction of the Hope to Princeton highway, which opened in November of 1949, a steel bridge replaced the wooden railway bridge, and the highway was built over the old railbed between Princeton and the bridge near the Pickard Creek Recreation area where the Old Hedley Road meets Highway 3. This bridge was painted a bright blue colour in later years.
Here are two photos of steel beams being moved from the railyard to the construction site accomplished with two flatbed trucks, one facing forward and the other facing backwards. Git-er-done!
Therefore, the concrete bridge that we use today is the third bridge on that site. The construction of the concrete replacement bridge began in the fall of 2001 after much planning and consultation. The road alignment and approach on both sides of the bridge had to be adjusted and part of the property that housed the Chamber of Commerce building (now the Metis Center) was required. Paving was completed and the new bridge opened in July of 2002. Demolition of the old bridge followed shortly thereafter. The plaque from the bridge is in the Princeton Museum collection.
The colour photos from 2001 and 2002 were provided by Hank Rabe, a long time resident of Princeton. In 2010, Hank Rabe retired from Maintenance duties at School District 58 after 31 years of service. In 2013, Hank along with Roy Harker and Gord Walker completed the project to install the CT-133 jet airplane as a weathervane at the Princeton Airport.
Editing and archival photos by the Princeton Museum. News clipping courtesy Similkameen News Leader/Princeton Museum.