The Westham Island Bridge, which is a single-lane, wood-deck

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

over ''Canoe Pass'' near the mouth of the

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...

, connects

Westham Island Westham Island is an island located near Ladner, British Columbia, Ladner, British Columbia, Canada within the City of Delta, British Columbia, Delta, which in turn is part of Greater Vancouver, Canada. The George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctua ...

with the

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also re ...

mainland, in

Metro Vancouver The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as one of the 28 ...

Original ferry

In 1882, the British Union (BU) and the British American (BA) canneries opened at Canoe Pass. Sufficient school age children existed to justify the erection of a schoolhouse and opening of a school in the 1883/84 year. Largely catering to non-resident cannery workers, Paul Swenson operated a ferry for 15 years, but received no government subsidy. The precise period is unclear, but the mid-1880s to early 1900s seems most likely. The BA operated a ferry during the following years. However, island farmers made other shipping arrangements, because the ferry did not transport livestock.

Original bridge

The reopening of the school for the 1909 year indicates a reversal of a dip in student numbers, probably reflecting an increase in the island general population. This may have been a factor in choosing the bridge over ferry option. The design comprised three king trusses, a

howe truss A Howe truss is a truss bridge consisting of chords, verticals, and diagonals whose vertical members are in tension and whose diagonal members are in compression. The Howe truss was invented by William Howe in 1840, and was widely used as a bridg ...

, a howe truss, and a steel swing span. The bridge opened to traffic in December 1909, but the official opening was March 1910. Efforts to prevent

scour Scour may refer to: Hydrodynamic processes * Hydrodynamic scour, the removal of sediment such as sand and silt from around an object * Bridge scour, erosion of soil around at the base of a bridge pier or abutments via the flow of air, ice, or ...

ing ultimately proved unsuccessful. By 1922, the structure was condemned as unstable, and a ferry was temporarily reintroduced.

Partial rebuilds

Beyond the ongoing maintenance, the first major rebuild was in 1924/25, when a and a howe truss and three piers were replaced. Two of the piers comprised a cluster of 75 wooden piles. Pile trestle and steel

I-beam An I-beam, also known as H-beam (for universal column, UC), w-beam (for "wide flange"), universal beam (UB), rolled steel joist (RSJ), or double-T (especially in Polish language, Polish, Bulgarian language, Bulgarian, Spanish language, Spanish ...

s replaced three king trusses in 1937/38. The bridge tender (operator) received a new cabin and housing improvements in 1942/43. A temporary ferry service operated from March 1951, while the whole bridge was rebuilt except for the steel swing span. In August 1969, a tug pulling a barge took out a howe truss. A barge ferry provided service until a

bailey bridge A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed in 1940–1941 by the British for military use during the Second World War and saw extensive use by British, Canadian and American military engineering units. A ...

was floated into place five days later. In 1971/72, a Callender-Hamilton steel span with timber decking replaced the bailey bridge. In the late 1990s, a wooden fence was added along both sides of the bridge. Major rehabilitation in 2019 required brief closures. Only one superstructure span continues to be of wood construction, although its beams have been replaced over the years. The planks forming the decking for the whole bridge have been replaced on a regular basis. The structure has undergone extensive refitting and alterations over the years.

Operation

TransLink Translink (or TransLink) may refer to: * TransLink (British Columbia), the public transport operator in Vancouver, Canada * Translink (Northern Ireland) Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a ...

, the regional transportation authority, has owned the bridge since 1999. A contractor maintains and operates the crossing. The load limit is 50 tons on TransLink's oldest and narrowest bridge, and one of few containing wood components in Metro Vancouver. The swing span is opened about seven or eight times a day to allow the passage mainly of fishing boats but also some pleasure craft. Mainroads Contracting, the franchise holder, operates the span. Marine traffic must call the bridge operator 40 minutes in advance on VHF channel 74. The bridge was manually swivelled by lifting a steel plate in the deck of the bridge and inserting a ten-foot bar into a capstan, and slowly walking around it to open or close the span. The longest tender, who remained 31 years, had lost an arm in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Although the bridge still has this manual capacity, an electric motor has superseded this function.

Importance

The bridge, which is the only land connection between Westham Island and the Delta mainland, provides access to the agricultural enterprises and the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary. The iconic structure is an occasional site location for film and TV productions. One of the memorable ones was an episode of the ''X-Files'' TV series, "

Kill Switch A kill switch, also known as an emergency stop (E-stop), emergency off (EMO) and as an emergency power off (EPO), is a safety mechanism used to shut off machinery in an emergency, when it cannot be shut down in the usual manner. Unlike a normal ...

References

{{Crossings navbox, reverse=yes , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Westham Island Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

George Massey Tunnel The George Massey Tunnel (often referred to as the Massey Tunnel) is a highway traffic tunnel in the Metro Vancouver region of southwestern British Columbia. It is located approximately south of the city centre of Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

''formerly

Ladner Ferry The Ladner Ferry crossed the south arm of the Fraser River in Metro Vancouver, linking Ladner with Richmond. History In the early 1890s, the Union Steamship S.S ''Eliza Edwards'' provided a daily Vancouver-Steveston-Ladner's Landing run. The Van ...

'' , upstream signs = , downstream =

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia (french: Détroit de Géorgie) or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada and the extreme northwestern mainland coast ...