Whether driving the Trans Canada Highway between Yale and Boston Bar or rafting through the Fraser Canyon, you can’t help noticing the graceful curving arch of the Alexandra Bridge. It is noteworthy that three bridges crossing the Fraser River at this location north of Spuzzum have been named after Princess Alexandra.

First bridge opened in 1863

Joseph W. Trutch built the first bridge during the Cariboo Gold Rush as part of the contracts he held for construction of the Cariboo Wagon Road through the Fraser Canyon. Trutch hired a San Francisco engineer, A.S. Halledie, early in 1863. By September of the same year, the bridge had been designed, constructed, load tested and opened to traffic.

Trutch’s bridge (officially named the Alexandra Bridge in honour of the then Princess of Wales) spanned 82 metres (268 feet). It bridged the entire width of the Fraser River at the narrowest point below Hell’s Gate. Halledie, in his design of the first Alexandra Bridge, used an ingenious scheme to prevent the flexing that was so common on bridges of that era. Early reports say that he was so successful that four horses drawing a wagon loaded with three tons produced no more than one-half inch deflection.

The bridge felt the traffic of thousands of gold seekers, mules, horses, cattle and possibly even a few camels before the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 made the canyon road obsolete.

Flood of 1894 swept deck away

Though no longer maintained, the first bridge continued to carry local traffic until the great flood of 1894. During the freshet of that year the water rose 27 metres at the bridge site. The rushing torrent reached the bridge deck and swept much of it away. Despite the damage, travellers used it as a footbridge until the cables were cut in 1912.

The closure of the wagon road and the Alexandra Bridge left British Columbia without a road connection to the coast and, in the early 1920s, the government decided to rebuild both.

The Provincial Department of Public works, then in charge of public highways, undertook the design of the second Alexandra Bridge. This task became the responsibility of the Provincial Bridge Engineer, A.L. Carruthers. The second bridge, like its predecessor, is also a suspension bridge. Carruthers began design work in early 1925. By August 1926, the construction crews had finished and load tested the bridge.

Despite the inadequacy of the canyon highway for the rapidly improving automobile, it remained in service until the early 1960s.

The third and present Alexandra Bridge is located a few hundred metres downstream from the original site. Here the river is considerably wider, resulting in a span of 245 metres (805 feet) compared to 85 metres (277 feet) of the second bridge.

Third bridge opened in 1963

With the completion of the present bridge in 1963, Mr. Carruthers’ bridge, like Trutch’s bridge before it, became obsolete. Thanks to the representations of a few interested individuals, the old bridge has not been demolished. The government has built a picnic site on the Trans Canada Highway, just north of the present bridge, and the second bridge can be easily reached on foot. Also in the area can be found traces of the old Cariboo Waggon (sic) Road and an old Fur Brigade Trail that once linked the Interior to the coast via the Nicola and Coldwater valleys.

Provincial Park established in 1984

Thanks to the efforts of the public and the Historic Sites Branch of the Provincial Parks Department, the bridge was designated an historic site in 1974. Fifty-five-hectare Alexandra Bridge Provincial Park was established at the site in 1984. There is an access trail to the old bridge from the west side of the highway near the northeast end of the present bridge.

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