BC Road Trip - Pedestrian Bridge, Golden, BC

June 15 - Before leaving Golden, we drove into town to see the Kicking Horse Pedestrian Bridge. This bridge is the longest authentic covered timber frame bridge in Canada. Planned as a community project, volunteers from Golden were joined by timber framers from the United States and also carpenters from Europe, who read about the project on the Internet. The European carpenters wore their traditional uniforms. The bridge structure was completed in September 2001. The Murray Timber LLC web site has some fascinating photos of the construction .

Because of the high waters in the fall, the installation of the bridge didn't occur until October 25. The installation took three full days. With the help of Sterling Cranes from Calgary, the structure was inched along and out onto a temporary footing, and finally onto the far shore where it was fitted into its concrete abutments. The bridge is 150 feet long, with a 210,000-pound Burr arch structure.