Fraser Street Bridge, Road bridge across Fraser River in Vancouver, Canada.
Fraser Street Bridge was a road bridge crossing the north arm of the Fraser River in Vancouver with a two-lane design and a movable span section to allow water traffic to pass beneath it.
Opened in 1894, the low-level two-lane bridge linked North Arm Road with No. 5 Road in Richmond. That year's Fraser flood destroyed more than half the southern section, causing $2,000 in damage. A 1916 ice floe destroyed 160 feet of the structure, and a 1918 Howe truss span was installed. The province assumed responsibility in 1929, and the bridge was demolished in 1974.
The bridge tender hand-operated the swing span using simple tools until 1948, when the system became electric. This manual work was central to how the crossing functioned for over 50 years.
From 1896, weight limits allowed only one loaded wagon on the bridge at a time, and automobiles were capped at 3 mph (4.8 km/h). In 1911, 11 people were charged with trotting horses across the structure, since driving a horse faster than walking pace was an offence. The swing span was opened by a bridge tender who walked around a capstan 25 times, taking about 15 minutes, or double in high winds.
In 1937, Delta potato farmer Chung Chuck, disputing the marketing board's authority, knifed inspector Earl A. McKay during a skirmish at the bridge. Both men and some non-Chinese participants faced assault charges, as the instigating party remained unclear.
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