fraser bridge disaster and baily repair 1966
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- Опубліковано 23 кві 2014
- 1966 south Fraser St bridge collapse after being struck by a barge. At least one vehicle fell in and some kids heading to pick strawberries also fell in, luckily no one was killed. My mother filmed this, the first part the day after the accident and later with the Baily bridge that was used until the bridge was torn out after the Knight street bridge was completed in the early 70's. The kid on the bike is me, the old fellow is my grandfather, Robert E Tait whose farm was located there just east of #5 road along the river.
I actually saw the barge hit the bridge. I was having coffee at the casting tower at the steel mill. Thought it was unusual that the bridge should be riding downstream on the barge. The divers used our dock to search for survivors. There were few injuries.
Before the opening of the Knight St. Bridge in the mid-70's, there were two bridges connecting No. 5 Rd. on Lulu Island to Twigg/Mitchell Island and South Vancouver at the foot of Fraser St. The bridge that collapsed when it was struck by the barge was the Middle Arm bridge. The North Arm bridge had a swing span that opened for smaller river vessels. It had had some minor accidents over the years but I don't recall it ever having to be closed except for regular maintenance.
When the phone cable caught on fire I actually met the guy years later who at the time worked for B.C. Tel and was the repairman on the site.
Wow, nice footage. I lived down on Simpson rd at the time. I was too young to remember this but l do remember when the Bridge caught fire. I remember my family talking about when the boat hit this bridge.
Great video! But can you please explain it? The 1st minute of the video is the damaged Fraser Street Bridge (I assume)? Then at 1:08, cars are crossing over what bridge? Is this the Fraser Street Bridge after it was repaired? Or is this another bridge?
That's the temporary single lane span they installed on the Fraser bridge a couple of weeks after the accident. It was in use until they had a new double lane span built. Those temporary single lane spans were called "Bailey" bridges and were designed during world war 2 to be portable. Some history of them here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailey_bridge
@@garycullen8110 Thank you for the clarification.
I actually saw the barge hit the bridge. I was having coffee at the casting tower at the steel mill. Thought it was unusual that the bridge should be riding downstream on the barge. The divers used our dock to search for survivors. There were few injuries.