The Quesnell Bridge is a girder bridge that spans the
North Saskatchewan River
The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows event ...
in
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
, Alberta, Canada. It is part of Edmonton's southern freeway,
Whitemud Drive
Whitemud Drive is a major east–west freeway in southern Edmonton, Alberta, that stretches from 231 Street at the western city limit to Anthony Henday Drive just east of Edmonton in Strathcona County. The portion in southeast Edmon ...
. An average of 120,000 cars pass over the bridge every day.
The bridge connects the communities of
Brookside Brookside may refer to:
Geography Canada
* Brookside, Edmonton
* Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Brookside, Nova Scotia
United Kingdom
* Brookside, Berkshire, England
* Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England
United States
* Bro ...
and
Brander Gardens on the south end to
Quesnell Heights and
Laurier Heights on the north end. The bridge is the widest road bridge in Edmonton with 8 total lanes (4 westbound and 4 eastbound)
Located directly to the southeast of the bridge's southern head is the ''
Talus Dome'', a public sculpture comprising roughly 1000 silver balls that was erected in 2011 at the cost of $600,000.
History
In 1950,
Philip Louis Pratley, who was serving as Edmonton's cross-river structure consultant, recommended five new bridges to be built in the city including one at 142 Street. On December 12, 1966, city council approved the Quesnell bridge plan at a cost of $8.8 million.
Construction on the bridge began in June 1967 with a tentative opening on October 31, 1968.
However, it was delayed due to a wet weather in the summer before the bridge officially opened on November 19, 1968.
It was originally designed to carry five-lanes of traffic with a 4.5 metre wide sidewalk on the east side for pedestrian and
bridle path
A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider ...
usage.
In 2008, the city announced a project to widen the bridge,
Whitemud Drive
Whitemud Drive is a major east–west freeway in southern Edmonton, Alberta, that stretches from 231 Street at the western city limit to Anthony Henday Drive just east of Edmonton in Strathcona County. The portion in southeast Edmon ...
, and
Fox Drive, adding capacity projected to be sufficient until 2058. It was completed in September 2011.
In August 2010 during excavation for a sewer-pipeline line several fossils were unearthed about below ground level. They were believed to be fossils from two extinct genera, ''
Edmontosaurus
''Edmontosaurus'' ( ) (meaning "lizard from Edmonton"), with the second species often colloquially and historically known as ''Anatosaurus'' or ''Anatotitan'' (meaning "duck lizard" and "giant duck"), is a genus of hadrosaurid (duck-billed) din ...
'' and ''
Albertosaurus
''Albertosaurus'' (; meaning "Alberta lizard") is a genus of large tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in northwestern North America during the early to middle Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period, about 71 million yea ...
''.
See also
*
List of crossings of the North Saskatchewan River
This is a list of crossings of the North Saskatchewan River in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta from the river's confluence with the South Saskatchewan River upstream to its source.
Saskatchewan
Alberta
See also
*Li ...
*
List of bridges in Canada
This is a list of bridges and viaducts in Canada, including those for pedestrians and vehicular traffic.
Historical and architectural interest bridges
There are only a few covered bridges left in Canada. In Quebec, despite over 1,200 existing ...
References
External links
Current Road Projects
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Bridges in Edmonton
Road bridges in Alberta