Cisco Bridges, Two railway bridges in Siska, Canada.
Cisco Bridges are two railway bridges over the Fraser River at Siska, British Columbia. The Canadian Pacific bridge is a 160-metre, three-span steel truss: two short Pratt trusses flank a longer Parker truss main span, and its south end runs straight into the Cantilever Bar Tunnel in Cisco Bluff. The Canadian National bridge, 247 metres long and 67 metres high, is a steel truss arch whose north-west end abuts a near-vertical rock face.
The first crossing at Cisco was a CPR cantilever span prefabricated in England and shipped to Canada in 1883, erected by the San Francisco Bridge Company. In 1910 it was replaced by the current three-span truss bridge, and the old span was moved to Vancouver Island's Niagara Creek Canyon. The CN truss arch bridge, designed by Waddell & Harrington, was completed in 1914 for the Canadian Northern Railway, nationalised in 1918 and part of CN since 1923.
Rail enthusiasts stop here regularly to photograph trains from both companies crossing side by side, which is a rare sight anywhere in the world. The spot has become a meeting point for people who follow train movements and document railway operations in the field.
Several pullouts along the Trans-Canada Highway give open views of both bridges without needing to step onto railway property. Stopping for a short while usually rewards visitors with at least one passing train, since the lines are in regular use.
The original 1883 CPR span, prefabricated in England by Joseph Tomlinson and erected by the San Francisco Bridge Company, was one of North America's longest cantilever spans. In 1910 it was dismantled and moved to Vancouver Island's Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, where it still carries trains over Niagara Creek Canyon.
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