Centennial - The Lighting of the High Level Bridge
By Leanna Lomanski
26 Sep 2009
One of western Canada's most famous landmarks is the Lethbridge Viaduct, or as it is more commonly referred to, the High Level Bridge. In August 2009 the bridge turned 100 and a local businessman (owner of an electrical contracting company) decided that it would be a great idea to do something special. He worked with CP Rail for months to allow him to work out a plan to light the bridge, at a cost of $132,000. The press worked overtime to promote the event -- it was being touted as the biggest thing to hit Lethbridge, well, ever.
Saturday of the Labor Day weekend is the big day -- there is a whole festival in the river bottom and everyone who didn't attend that is walking or parking within every possible vantage point of the bridge. Traffic was bumper to bumper and crawling on every road surrounding the bridge and the two vehicle bridges south and north of it.
9:00 p.m. comes -- it's the moment we've all anticipated -- the generators are fired up and the floodlights slowly begin to glow. It's a cloudy night and as the lights reach full power their reflection against the clouds can be seen. Many people are disappointed with the light show; most of them were expecting the bridge to be strung with thousands of twinkling lights and weren't expecting just the floodlights at the base -- after a few minutes many of them leave with mumbled comments like "that's it?". We are at a vantage point at one end of the bridge where it begins to cross the river on the east side. I take a few photos and we decide that the view might be better from a total side view of the bridge so we fight the traffic and make our way over to the bridge south of the viaduct. This point of view is much worse -- you really can't even see the lights -- the bridge is almost imperceptibly glowing. We fight the traffic all the way around again until we get close to our original spot and I shoot the remaining photos. I've seen photos taken by others that make the whole affair look much grander but editing has clearly made the event look more spectacular that it really was.
Not to take away from the bridge though - it is a beautiful piece of engineering that never fails to yield an interesting image for local photographers. It's beautiful against a sunset, after a fresh snow, in the fog or even against the Alberta blue sky. It's geometry, lines and shadows and riveted towers are endlessly fascinating to me. Even after 100 years it is still the longest and highest bridge of its kind in the world.
Here are a few facts about our bridge:
Length: 1,623.86 m (5,327.625 ft)
Height: 95.7 m (314.0 ft) above river bed
Materials: 12,400 tons of steel
Deck spans and lengths:
* 44 plate girder spans each of 20.4 m (66.93 ft)
* 22 plate girder spans each of 30.15 m (98.92 ft)
* one riveted lattice-truss of 32.6 m (106.96 ft)
Rigid braced steel towers: total of 33
Cost to complete - $1,334,525.00 (quite a staggering sum in 1909)
Even today there are no weight or length restrictions on the dozen or so mile long freight trains that cross it everyday.
If you ever get to Lethbridge, Alberta you can't miss it!
7 responses
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Jesse Decker gave props (26 Sep 2009):
Great story and photos to go with it.
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Ron LaFond gave props (26 Sep 2009):
I really like your story, Leanna. It would be great to see this published in JPGMAG. I really like the subtle lighting. So much is so often overly lit at night. Your shots really show off the way the lighting enhances the architecture of this wonderful piece of engineering. I vote "Yeah!" R
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John Linton gave props (27 Sep 2009):
Hell YEAH! Rad!
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Richard Knight said (27 Sep 2009):
Quite an essay, Leanna! Informative and interesting, and obviously written in your style. Excellent photos. I have been to Alberta many times, and will look forward to seeing this landmark on my next visit.
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david ong gave props (27 Sep 2009):
BRAVO!!!
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elfriede fulda gave props (30 Sep 2009):
Yes,,,great story,,,my vote for sure Leanna, love Alberta by the way...LOL
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Matt. Fletcher gave props (10 Oct 2009):
Yeah my Vote....Great Job Leanna
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