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BDI Bridge

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Assiniboine Park, The Forks - Winnipeg, Red River of the North

Winnipeg red river ice break up striking the bdi bridge


The Elm Park Bridge, sometimes locally referred to as The BDI Bridge or The Ice Cream Bridge, is a bridge across the Red River in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The bridge links Kingston Crescent with the Jubilee/Osborne area, a Winnipeg community across the Red River. The BDI Bridge nickname is derived from the nearby Bridge Drive-In (BDI), a popular ice cream vendor. The BDI itself is so-named because of its proximity to the Elm Park Bridge. It was built in 1912 and it was open to two-way vehicular traffic. The deck of the bridge is only 15 feet wide but even the large cars of the early 1960s passed each other. In 1974, it was closed to vehicular traffic, and is a common bridge for foot traffic to the BDI in summer.

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History

Elm Park Bridge was first built as a toll bridge to replace an 1890s pontoon bridge, that gave pedestrians access to Kingston Row. The toll was 5 cents for pedestrians, 10 cents for cars, and 25 cents for trucks. The tolls were removed in 1946. In 1974 vehicle traffic was no longer allowed on the bridge. Facing heavy renovation costs for the bridge in the mid-90s, the city investigated the possibility of tearing it down but backed away when told of the $1,000,000 price tag, and thus instead was fixed at the cost of $300,000. On May 24, 2014, a 100th year anniversary of the bridge was held.

References

BDI Bridge Wikipedia