11 June 2009
All Aboard for High Level Bridge Celebration
The CPR Lethbridge Viaduct.
Lethbridge Alberta - Lethbridge just wouldn't be
the same without the High Level bridge.
It's part of the community tapestry and an iconic landmark besides being a feat of engineering, a source of economic strength, and a
signpost.
"As soon as you see that bridge you know you're home," said Ald. Jeff Carlson at the launch of the "In the Shadow of the
Bridge" festival Thursday at the Galt Museum.
The Allied Arts Council started planning celebrations to honour the 100th anniversary of the bridge a couple of years ago in
collaboration with the city and the community.
Thursday's launch also recognized approximately $350,000 worth of support, in cash, and in kind, from all three levels of government
and corporate sponsors.
"We are absolutely thrilled to be launching the bridge festival today and it's come after many, many years of planning with many,
many partners," said Suzanne Lint, executive director of the council.
Many projects celebrating the bridge are in the works or have already occurred, such as artists' workshops, community exhibitions, a
website, a stamp project, and an animated video, but the big, high-level event will be the "In the Shadow of the
Bridge" festival 5 Sep 2009 in Indian Battle Park.
"When the Allied Arts Council got together with the arts community to talk about doing the celebration we identified that for
every person who lives in this community the bridge is an icon. It's so much a part of the fabric of our city, it's part of our
individual and collective identity as a community, and it's 100-years-old," Lint said. "It's had tremendous
economic impact on our city but more importantly it's a symbol of us, of Lethbridge."
The festival will take place in the river bottom with a day full of activities including an artisans market, children's activity area,
actors in period clothing doing skits about the history and construction of the bridge, and a beer garden.
Local talent, musicians, dancers, and actors, will provide the lineup of entertainment on the main stage from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Buskers and food kiosks will be on site and transportation will be provided by buses leaving every half hour from all sides of the
city and the Lethbridge Lodge west lot.
Getting people to come on board for celebrating the 100th anniversary of the bridge didn't even require a call from a railway
conductor.
"Because the bridge is so much a part of our identity it touched something in everyone we approached," Lint said.
"We've had tremendous support from the arts community, the general community, and our corporate sponsors, ATB and CP Rail."
Bridge banners will be displayed throughout downtown, a legacy art work, a sculpture called "A Departure," will be installed
this fall and the Southern Alberta Art Gallery will have a series of summer workshops for youth to explore a bridge theme.
Foundation work on the High Level Bridge started in 1908 and by June 1909 the steel girder bridge had replaced 22
wood-frame bridges. It provided a more direct route by eliminating 37 curves and more than five miles of track. At one
mile and 47 feet long, the bridge indeed produced a high-level crossing by reducing the gradient, thereby making an
easier climb for engines and cutting operating costs in the process.
"It's an ongoing project for sure. It's maintained on a daily basis," said Kevin Sali, manager of road operations for CP
Rail. "At peak times more than a dozen trains a day will cross the viaduct."
Originally built to carry coal for steam locomotives, the line now carries Canadian and American grain, fertilizer, and industrial
products across borders and to seaports.
While the bridge will have special lighting for the celebration, no passenger train trips are possible.
"Unfortunately, CP doesn't have any of its passenger cars available to coincide with any of the planned community events,"
Sali said.
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