The Highway Bridge at Wardner BC

Presenting another epic BIGDoer.com Then & Now and in this instalment we’re looking at the old Highway #3/93 bridge over the Kootenay River at Wardner BC. The original photo dates back to the late ’60s and in the fifty some years that have passed, the scene is remarkably the same. Except for one obvious omission, of course. The bridge structure seen in the old image was removed soon after the photo capture and replaced by a crossing further upstream.

This came about due to construction of the Libby Dam down in Montana and the resultant filling of Lake Koocanusa (KOOtenay + CANanda + USA). The reservoir, when at maximum, backs up all the way to Wardner (and occasionally even a bit north) and would have put parts of the bridge approach underwater at times and threatened the integrity of the structure as a whole. That won’t work!

The Bridge at Wardner BC: taken fifty+ years apart. With Chris Doering & Connie Biggart (BIGDoer/Synd)

This became a good excuse to put in a new highway bypass. With the bridge getting old and tired, it would be needing replacement soon anyway. By the end it also became wholly inadequate for the traffic carried and a real bottleneck. Finally, with traffic routed around town, cars could travel at higher speeds. How ever you looked at it, things were not ideal and for Joe Motorist a change would be welcomed.

A railway bridge a bit to the south was similarly impacted and the Canadian Pacific line rerouted as a result. We got to view some of that old roadbed up close on this same trip and we’ll post about it soon. The line is sometimes underwater or very close to submerged where as other times it’s high and dry. On our visit, we were only a few feet above lake level and it felt a bit exposed.

The then photo dates from 1969 and with the bridge on borrowed time. With construction on the dam already in full swing and water soon backing up, the lake would be full by 1975. They built a new highway alignment ahead of this, in use by 1971 and the old bridge removed soon after.

Things got quiet in Wardner with the town bypassed and any businesses left at this point soon closed. There was a gas station spoken off further on, and we think a hotel with pub. In the early days of the railway (late 1890s) things were different and the community a happening place. It soon lost importance to nearby Cranbrook, however, and then came a long slow decline. Still, there’s money to be had from passing travellers and with them gone, it became the final nail in the coffin for the town.

There’s not much happening in Wardner today and it’s a sleepy little community. The population sits around a couple hundred, but many are retired folks. You’d never know how much promise it once held.

There’s been a bridge at this very spot as early as 1910, the first of wood, and the second and last (the one seen here) of steel. Old papers speak of a ferry in the general area beforehand, but there’s few details. Presumably it went out of business once made redundant.

The bridge seen in the then photo dates from 1927 and appears to be a pretty standard Pratt Truss design. A structure of this form has limited clearances and since it had but one lane (so yield to opposing traffic) it no doubt became a nuisance for drivers. And perhaps even dangerous. In later years traffic levels increased and transport trucks grew larger, so it had to be replaced.

The bridge had three spans in what appear to be equal lengths and with two intermediate piers. In addition there’s support abutments at each end and one of the latter, on the photography side, was left behind afterwards. The bridge carried power and communication lines on cross-arms attached to the top of the structure.

Sections of the old highway remain in place, but are blocked off from traffic. On the east side there’s a long stretch on private property and on this side, a short section protected by barricades. They don’t want anyone mistakenly flying off into the drink.

There used to be an earthen ramp up to the bridge on the far side, but it’s gone now and with no sign anything was ever there. There appears to be a house behind it, in the old photo, but of course it’s gone. No doubt many other rural homes were impacted by the filling of Koocanusa. Now it’s lake bottom but before fertile pasture and farm land.

Mud flats on the far side are cattle pasture when they’re not underwater. That usually only happens in spring, but never without warning. It’s a big reservoir and if levels rise it takes a while.

The new highway bridge and alignment can be seen to the north. Bull Mountain features prominent in back and note how many more trees there are on the rolling hills in front now, compared to then.

Speaking of woods, the original photo comes from Forest Service archives at the Royal BC Museum (who graciously allowed us use) and we suppose it might have functioned as a visual record of general tree cover in the area. Otherwise why would they take a photo of the bridge unless they were focusing on the hills in back and it just happened to make it into the scene? Either way, we appreciate what they did and that we get to put it to use.

You can see a cut for the new highway, then nearing completion, in the old photo and it’s partly obscured by bridge beams at about the first pier on the left.

Up until the crossing closed, and perhaps for a time after, there used to be gas station right at the west end (south side). You literally exited the bridge and were there.

Known variously as Martino’s, Cameron’s, or Deman’s Service Station, depending on the year, it flew the Texaco flag in the photo we found. Remains of the station foundation and fuel island can still be seen in the grass.

It’s not known from when the business dates, but as seen in that photo, the building appears to be a post war design. Of course, it’s entirely possible this replaced an earlier structure, but what ever the case, they must have been dealt a big blow with the loss of highway traffic.

Given their strategic location they must have done well up until the rerouting. We only found a single image showing it, taken around 1970-1971 (based on the cars seen) and it shows the parking lot quite full. It’s mentioned they functioned as a store and while the photo’s too small to make out much, it almost looks like they had a restaurant too. Any locals care to chime in?

Normally we can trace lineage of a business using old phone books (a treasure hunt we relish), but we don’t have access to any online archives that have these for the province. We do for Alberta and Saskatchewan, but not British Columbia and it’s frustrating. Otherwise it’d have been an easy task to track it across time.

Lake Koocanusa’s a recreation paradise, on both sides of the International border, and often busy with boats. They don’t tend to head this far up, however, due to unpredictable water levels in the extreme north of the reservoir. It’s often more river like at this point and with a fast flow. On busy summer weekends, the lake can be one big traffic jam, but that’s further south by the town of Baynes Lake.

Know more: (new tabs): Lake Koocanusa and Wardner British Columbia.

Till the next Then & Now post, we bid you adieu.

They’re saying…

”These two are amazing!! I love following their adventures and the photography is…jaw dropping. Enjoy your working vacation, Chris & Connie!! I’m looking forward to living vicariously.” Dayna Kent.

Some fav T&Ns…
Serendipity @ The Rock (Frank Slide) – You won’t believe it!
Superman 1978 Then & Now: Below the Dam – speaking of dams.
Rosebery BC Then & Now.
Crowsnest Pass then and now – Chinook Motel.

Something to say and no one to say it to? Go here: contact us!

Date of adventure: 1969 and July 2022.
Location: Wardner, BC.
Article references and thanks: British Columbia. Forest Service archives @ Royal BC Museum, Donald Malcolm Wilson’s Crowsnest-Highway.ca website, BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and Statistic Canada.

The old Bridge at Wardner BC.

The current crossing to the north (left).

Remains of the old gas station at the west end.

The fuel island.

Wardner Bridge stood right here.

Remains of the concrete abutment.

A section of old highway can be seen far in back.