Official name Broadway Bridge Height 24 m Total length 355 m | Maintained by City of Saskatoon Width 14 m Opened 11 November 1932 | |
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Design Open spandrel deck arch Address Broadway Ave, Saskatoon, SK, Canada Similar Traffic Bridge, South Saskatchewan River, University Bridge, Senator Sid Buckwold, Delta Bessborough | ||
Broadway Bridge is an arch bridge that spans the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
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History
The bridge was constructed as a "make-work" project during the Great Depression. It was built in 1932 by the contractor R.J. Arrand Construction Co. It was designed by Chalmers Jack (C. J.) MacKenzie (on leave from his post as Dean of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan). For this reason, the bridge was originally called The Dean's Bridge in its early period; it was formally named the Broadway Bridge as it connects Broadway Avenue on the east shore with 19th Street and 4th Avenue in Saskatoon's downtown core. The city once considered changing the name to George V Bridge in honour of the King.
Construction of the bridge employed 1,593 men, who worked in three shifts around the clock. It is Saskatoon's steepest bridge, with a 4% grade, and the tallest at 24 metres (79 ft) above the river. The total cost at the time of construction was $850,000 CAD. In 1933, the streetcar lines of the Saskatoon Municipal Railway were re-routed from the Traffic Bridge to the Broadway Bridge.
The year-long closure of the nearby Traffic Bridge in late 2005 greatly increased the amount of daily traffic crossing the bridge.
In popular culture
The image of the Bessborough Hotel framed within one of the arches of the Broadway Bridge is considered one of Saskatoon's iconic images.
The Broadway Bridge is mentioned in Joni Mitchell's song "Cherokee Louise" on the album Night Ride Home. Joni spent part of her childhood and teenage years in Saskatoon. The Bessborough Hotel, iconically associated with the Broadway Bridge, can be seen in a self-portrait by Mitchell on the cover of her Clouds album.