The two RV Gypsies
at the Kiskatinaw Bridge
Dawson Creek, British Columbia
June 11, 2016

The Historic Kiskatinaw Bridge is located about 30 km north of Dawson Creek, BC within Kiskatinaw Provincial Park (established 1 May 1962). Built in 1942-43 by the US Public Roads Administration (PRA) to replace the original timber trestle, the bridge is a curved, timber-truss structure about 122 m in length. This three-span timber truss bridge has an amazing nine-degree curve – a curve that PRA engineers designed to accommodate the highway’s steep change in grade on the west end and the need to land at a notch in the cliff on the east end. At the time, it was the first wooden curved bridge to be built in Canada. The Historic Kiskatinaw Bridge is included in the Peace River Regional District’s Regional Heritage Registry.

Below: some signs and information about the Kiskatinaw Bridge as photographed inside the Alaska Highway House museum.

Kiskatinaw means "cutbank" in Cree, one of the local Aboriginal languages. About 500,000 board feet of British Columbia fir was used in the construction of the bridge, which was shipped from coastal BC. The bridge is a marvel of engineering that took as long to build as the whole Alaska Highway.

The two RV Gypsies drove their car over The Historic Kiskatinaw Bridge. The bridge had a maximum 25 ton capacity which restricted the load of many oil and gas companies coming into the area in the 1970's. In 1978 a new road was built that by-passed the Kiskatinaw Bridge.

View of the Kiskatinaw River as seen from the Kiskatinaw Bridge.

Below: View from the the other side of the Kiskatinaw Bridge. Followed by photos of the two RV Gypsies walking in that area.

Below: Lee Duquette approaching the underside of the Kiskatinaw Bridge

Below: Karen Duquette under the Kiskatinaw Bridge

Below: A deer crossed the road in front of the two RV Gypsies' RV, then turned to pose for a photo.

Some information was taken from https://www.tourismdawsoncreek.com/visitor/do/historic-attractions/kiskatinaw-bridge - but there is a lot more to be learned about the bridge.

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