Pattullo was built to last 50 years
Span to be replaced after 81 years of use
Premier John Horgan announced Friday that the B.C. government will replace the 80-year-old Pattullo Bridge.
Built to last 50 years, the old bridge, which connects Surrey and New Westminster, does not meet current wind and seismic standards and may be vulnerable during an earthquake or hurricane-level windstorm.
But none of that was on anyone’s radar on Nov. 15, 1937, when the Pattullo Bridge was officially opened by the man it was named after, B.C. Premier T. Dufferin Pattullo (a.k.a. Duff ). The $4-million structure was a big deal: 15,000 to 20,000 people showed up to see the premier cut a chain with a torch to open the bridge.
The Vancouver Sun published a special 16-page section on Nov. 13, 1937 to commemorate the opening of the bridge, including photos of the various stages of construction.
One story predicted two million vehicles would use it the first year, including 1.5 million cars, 400,000 trucks, 10,000 buses, 25,000 motorcycles, “and 50 horse-drawn vehicles.”
One thousand workers toiled two years to build the bridge out of 7,100 tons of steel, 106,000 barrels of cement, 63,000 cubic yards of concrete, 1.046 million feet of timber, and 2,800 piles. The steel part of the bridge was 2,450 feet long, the total length was 6,200 feet, and it was 147 feet above the river. The bridge was designed by engineers W.G. Swan, A. Dixon and Alexander Lorraine Carruthers. There was a 25-cent toll for cars to cross it, but drivers could buy a monthly pass for $3.
Prior to the Pattullo Bridge, drivers had to cross the two-lane New Westminster Bridge, which had a car deck on top and a railway deck below. Speaking at an official luncheon, New Westminster Mayor Fred Hume spoke about the old span.
“On both sides of the river, including the city of Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster, over 400,000 people live and have been dependent on one 15-foot swing-span bridge for the daily flow of private motor cars, commercial trucking and the transportation of the necessities of life from the farms of the Fraser Valley,” said Hume. “A major accident to this old bridge would have been a calamity.”
Built in 1904, the New Westminster Bridge is still used by rail traffic.
A major accident to this old bridge would have been a calamity.