Crystal River Bridge

Unaka Pit Crystal River Bridge Mattabi Station

Crystal River Bridge is located west of Unaka Station at Milepost 147.9/90.3/118.8. It is 90 feet long and 20 feet high.

The bridge was opened circa 1919 and replaced a previous wood trestle. It is unique in that it was constructed entirely out of concrete and the upgrade was done while the line was operated as part of the Canadian Government Railways (CGR).

The tender for the bridge (trestle as listed in the document) was accepted from the Carter-Halls-Aldinger Company of Winnipeg on July 3, 1918 for $89,299. This amount would include not only this bridge, but another near Raith, as well as several culverts near Hunt and Zarn and a stream tunnel west of Zarn (the company was also awarded a $86,897 contract for several bridges, culverts and tunnels further east). The reinforced concrete structure would utilize broken stone in the mixture in lieu of gravel.

A larger, sister structure was constructed much further west near Dona Station by the same company over the Strawberry Creek.

The bridge appears to have been extensively altered in 1948 according to the date stamps affixed to the structure. This includes new facings (which replaced the previous date stamps with the 1948 ones) and the “boxing in” of the support piles/piers. Despite this, it still retains some similarities to the Strawberry Creek Bridge.