Carries Railway Official name Mintlaw Viaduct Closed 1983 Height 34 m Body of water Red Deer River | Crosses Red Deer River Longest span 150' truss span Opened 1912 Total length 644 m Locale Red Deer County | |
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Constructed by Alberta Central Railway | ||
The Mintlaw Viaduct is an abandoned steel and wooden railway trestle that was built over the Red Deer River by the Alberta Central Railway near Mintlaw, Alberta, in 1912. The last train to cross the bridge was in 1981, and the line and bridge was abandoned in 1983. The bridge is the second longest Canadian Pacific Railway bridge of its kind in Alberta. It is the longest and the highest bridge in Central Alberta. It is located west of Tuttle, northwest of Penhold, southwest of Red Deer, northwest of Red Deer Airport, and near the intersection of the C & E Trail and McKenzie Road.
History
The Alberta Central Railway was incorporated in 1901 by an act of parliament in Alberta. Construction by the Alberta Central Railway on the bridge started in 1911 just east of the now ghost town of Mintlaw (where a station was located) after Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the Prime Minister of Canada visited Red Deer to drive the first spike into the railway. The bridge was completed in the fall of 1912. After the Alberta Central Railway went bankrupt, the bridge was leased to the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the Alberta Central Railway was eventually bought by the Canadian Pacific Railway.
The last train to go across the bridge went across in 1981 before the line was abandoned in 1983. In 2009, Red Deer County purchased the bridge from the Canadian Pacific Railway for $1 as an important heritage landmark and as part of a possible future regional pedestrian and cycling trail. In late 2010, Red Deer County authorized $350,000 for maintenance on the west side of the bridge, and on the east side in 2014.