Pitt River Bridge - Original Bridge

Original Bridge

Pitt River Bridge (1957, 1978)
Carries Four lanes of British Columbia Highway 7, Lougheed Highway
Crosses Pitt River
Locale Port Coquitlam
Pitt Meadows
Maintained by British Columbia Ministry of Transportation
Design swing bridge
Opened 1957 (Westbound span),
1978 (Eastbound span)
Followed by Pitt River Bridge (second, 2009)
Closed October 4, 2009
Coordinates 49°16′29″N 122°43′48″W / 49.2748°N 122.7301°W / 49.2748; -122.7301

The original Pitt River Bridge (southern) span opened in 1957 by Premier W. A. C. Bennett. The second (northern) span was built in the 1978. The mid swing span of the south span had the distinction of sometimes not seating properly in the closed position becoming stuck and causing very long traffic line ups (especially before the north span was built), but this problem was fixed many years ago. The control house also operated the lane control system.

Each of the two spans had two lanes. During the morning and evening commute times, a counterflow lane was opened so that the traffic was three lanes in one direction, one lane in the other.

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