Princeton Bridge of Dreams

When the Kettle Valley Railway was built, it ushered in an era of economic growth for British Columbia’s Southern Interior region – a vital link to Vancouver’s coastal port for the mining and agricultural industries. A “Bridge of Dreams” was constructed in 1909, allowing trains to cross the Tulameen River for close to eight decades.

The rail line was decommissioned in 1989 and since then, much of the route was converted into a multi-use recreational trail. As such, there was a need to replace the original Bridge of Dreams with a more pedestrian-friendly design.

Given its location in the province’s timber heartland, designers sought to use well-protected wood where possible and steel where logical. The new 64m footbridge also sustainably reused century-old concrete railway piers from the original Bridge of Dreams.

Fast + Epp designed the new structure as a finely-detailed kit of parts, using a 3D solids computer model. Elements were shop fabricated and partially assembled by design-build company, Structure Craft, then shipped to site and constructed on the riverbank in two 31.5m spans (which were then craned into place). A wood bridge deck – suspended by steel rods from twinned glulam arches – was covered with an undulating steel roof deck on sawn timber purlins.