The Pattullo Bridge was closed earlier this year to traffic, and archival images document how the Fraser River crossing was built decades ago as its central orange arch was recently removed.
The Story
This month, crews removed the central span of the Pattullo Bridge, following the bridge’s closure earlier this year to traffic after nearly 90 years in operation.
According to archival images and related video material, last weekend’s work included the removal of the orange arch that made up the central span of the bridge, with some residents capturing the deconstruction and removal on video.
The historical photos show the bridge in its earliest days, when it was described as white, as cranes worked to move materials into place over the Fraser River.
The supplied historical material also points to video clips of the bridge being built in a video hosted on the City of Vancouver archive website.
When the bridge opened, it was described at the time as a major infrastructure link for moving goods around the Lower Mainland, with New Westminster noted in period reporting as the third-largest port in Canada.
An old newspaper advertisement cited in the archival material says the bridge featured the latest in street-light technology with sodium vapour lights.
The Pattullo Bridge was named for the sitting premier, Thomas “Duff” Pattullo, who was in power from 1933 to 1941, and who was described as being on hand for the opening.
The bridge also served as a replacement for an older crossing between New Westminster and Surrey that had been built between 1902 and 1904, replacing a ferry service that ran between the two communities from 1884 until the bridge opened.
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