High Level Bridge (Edmonton)

Located next to the Alberta Legislature Building, the bridge linked the communities of Edmonton and Strathcona, which became one city in 1912. It was designed from the outset to accommodate rail, streetcar, two-way automobile, and pedestrian traffic. More than 500 workers were employed on the project at its peak, and four men died during the bridge's construction. There was no public ceremony to commemorate the start of train services over the bridge. Trucks are prohibited on the bridge due to the low clearance of and substandard lane width. Currently street traffic is one-way southbound. At the north end of the bridge, 109 Street enters into the left lane, and 110 Street enters into the right lane. The next bridge downstream, the Walterdale Bridge, is a three-lane bridge with one-way northbound traffic into downtown. The last Edmonton Transit System streetcar travelled over the bridge on September 1, 1951, and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), responsible for the design of the bridge, ceased rail operations over the span in 1989. The upper deck contains only the one middle track now, which is used only by the High Level Bridge Streetcar, a historic streetcar route operated by the Edmonton Radial Railway Society, that travels from Whyte Avenue to Jasper Plaza, a park just south of Jasper Avenue, with four intermediate stops. ==Modifications==

City Council considered converting the bridge's upper deck into traffic lanes for vehicles on several occasions, starting in 1938. An engineering consultant hired by council to report on the state of the Edmonton Radial Railway recommended that the streetcar tracks on the upper deck of the High Level Bridge be removed, and the deck repurposed for trolley buses. The city sent an engineer to Montreal and Toronto to discuss the idea with CPR and Canadian Bridge Company engineers, but nothing further happened immediately. Project delays caused the capital costs to increase, and the proposal went back to voters with a larger budget in a 1950 plebiscite. the electrical wires and panel supporting trolley bus operation on the bridge were removed. Extensive repairs and the addition and widening of pedestrian sidewalks were completed in 1994–95. The original lead paint on the bridge was carefully removed, and over 100,000 litres of paint were used to recoat the girders. In 2010 the bridge was the subject of The High Level Bridge, a short documentary film by Trevor Anderson which focuses on the bridge's history as a venue for suicide by jumping. Completion of new suicide barriers in July 2016 lowered suicide attempts by 50 percent. However, the barriers, which ended up appearing to be twice the width of the initial approved design and placed on the inside of the existing shared-use path railing, reduced the west shared-use path width to and the east shared-use path to a substandard width of . A feasibility study commissioned by the city found that it would be "marginally feasible" to widen the existing shared-use paths on the bridge, at a cost of approximately $23.7 million; however, no changes were approved. An engineering study released in February 2018 explained that, even though the bridge was built to support freight trains, it would not be able to structurally support modifications to allow a new LRT line on the top deck, due to corrosion. By the time the City of Edmonton took ownership of the bridge, the main trusses had lost approximately 44 percent of their width due to rust. The campaign raised approximately $2.5 million for the project, which was unveiled on July 1, 2014. The official lighting of the bridge was synchronized to the tune of "O Canada", played by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and broadcast on CKUA radio. The lights can display many different colours and are often programmed to coordinate with local events, such as green and gold for games played by the Edmonton Elks. Great Divide waterfall In 1980 the Great Divide waterfall by artist Peter Lewis was added to the structure for Alberta's 75th anniversary. The man-made waterfall dropped from the top of the bridge, (7 m higher than Niagara Falls) into the North Saskatchewan River at a rate of 50,000 litres per minute. It operated during holiday weekends in the summer months until 2009 when it was shut off after consultation with Environment Canada. From roughly April 2012 to April 2013, city council deliberated on whether or not it should re-open the waterfall, and in 2013, $735,000 was allocated for "Great Divide waterfall refurbishment". As of 2014, the city had all but scrapped the plans to refurbish the waterfall, citing the estimated $2.6 million price tag as too high. The final decision to decommission the waterfall was stayed until fall 2014, as public reaction was gauged and community fundraising options were considered. In 2016, city council voted against the removal of the pipes for the waterfall. While there are no plans to reactivate the falls, the decision to leave the pipes in place allows for that possibility. The waterfall remains a part of the City of Edmonton's Public Art Collection. == See also ==