Collectivité

Hillsborough Bridge (Charlottetown, P.E.I.)

On 18 April 1900 an agreement was signed between the federal and provincial governments for the construction of a railway and carriage bridge across the Hillsborough River. This was to constitute part of the Murray Harbour Branch of the Prince Edward Island Railway. Construction was begun in the spring of 1901 by M. J. Haney of Toronto. Twelve spans of steel bridge work were dismantled from a bridge on the Miramichi near Derby Junction Station on the Intercolonial line and were conveyed to Charlottetown where eleven of these spans were reconstructed and placed on the newly constructed piers. The fifth span was a draw span which opened and closed for navigation on the river. by the late 1950's concern mounted that the bridge could not support the growing traffic and it was actually closed for a brief period of time to the intense dismay of Islanders. Although reopened, it was soon replaced by the current bridge in 1961, and dismantled in 1963. The piers however were left in place and can still be seen from the new bridge.

RAD 24.3C1

23 November 1999. Copied from PEIAIN 9 July 2015.