Provencher Bridge

There have been a total of three bridges (aka Red River Bridges), as well as a ferry, linking Winnipeg from the then-eastern end of Broadway with St. Boniface from the western end of Provencher Boulevard. The current-day Provencher Bridge succeeds the ferry and the previous two bridges.{{Cite web |title=Historic Sites of Manitoba: Broadway Bridge / Red River Bridges (Provencher Boulevard, Winnipeg) |url=https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/redriverbridges.shtml |access-date=2023-05-14 |website=www.mhs.mb.ca}}

The first way of crossing the Red River was by the Notre Dame Street (Pioneer Avenue) ferry, linking Broadway on the west with Provencher Blvd on the east. The ferry route was cancelled in 1882 with the opening of the Broadway Bridge. It sank on the Assiniboine River later that same year.{{Cite web|url=https://www.winnipegrealestatenews.com/publications/real-estate-news/1901|title=Crossing the Red River — Tait had a new steam ferry built to link Winnipeg and St. Boniface|website=www.winnipegrealestatenews.com|language=en-ca|access-date=2019-04-13}}

Prior to the construction of the first Provencher Bridge was the Broadway Bridge (also known as the St. Boniface Bridge), which spanned the Red River and linked the cities of Winnipeg and St. Boniface by connecting Provencher Boulevard with Broadway.{{Cite web |title=The Provencher Bridge |url=https://baladodecouverte.com/circuits/836/poi/9570/the-provencher-bridge |access-date=2023-05-14 |website=BaladoDécouverte |language=fr}}

Built by the joint-stock Assiniboine and Red River Bridge Company, a subsidiary of the Hudson Bay Company, the Broadway Bridge replaced the Notre Dame Street (Pioneer Avenue) ferry as the first bridge to link Winnipeg to St. Boniface.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Remnants of the Past: The Hudson’s Bay Company and Winnipeg’s Urban Landscape – The Broadway Bridge {{!}} HBCA Spotlight {{!}} Archives of Manitoba |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/spotlight/broadway_bridge.html |access-date=2023-05-14 |website=www.gov.mb.ca |language=en}}

The Broadway Bridge was a simple iron truss structure, about {{Convert|900|ft|m|order=flip}} in length, consisting of five {{Convert|140|ft|m|order=flip}} stationary spans and one swing span. Known as a Pratt or Whipple truss bridge, the Broadway Bridge was designed by Edward Worrell Jarvis and constructed by C. W. Dean of Cleveland, Ohio.

Construction of this bridge began in 1881 and was opened to traffic on April 16, 1882, as a private toll bridge, . Disaster struck three days later due to ice from annual Red River break-up, wiping away two spans of the bridge. The bridge remained closed until repairs were completed one year later.

In 1909, the City of St. Boniface bought the bridge for $59,000, and in 1912, city engineers recommended that a new bridge be built. Broadway Bridge remained in use until the completion of the construction of the Provencher Bridge in 1918, whereafter the Broadway Bridge was demolished.

In 1912, engineers of the City of St. Boniface recommended that the Broadway Bridge be replaced by a modern bridge with a refined aesthetic quality. A team of six engineers was recruited to oversee the construction project, and the cost would be split between St. Boniface (two thirds) and the City of Winnipeg (the remaining third).

The new viaduct, a double-leaf drawbridge designed by the Strauss Bascule Bridge Company of Chicago, began construction in 1913 or 1914. Construction was undertaken by MacDonald & McGoogan Company and the Dominion Bridge Co.

The new drawbridge along Provencher was opened in the summer of 1918, replacing the Broadway Bridge.

Instead of linking with Broadway, this new bridge was oriented slightly to the north; traffic crossing from the east was sent even further north, eventually connecting with Main Street about 500 metres from Broadway. Streetcars began operating on the bridge on December 3, 1925.

The second bridge was dismantled in 2001 for the opening of the third (current) bridge.

The third and current bridge consists of two paired bridges, a vehicular bridge and a pedestrian bridge (Esplanade Riel).

The City of Winnipeg decided to replace the 90-year old Provencher Bridge with a newer structure, following 2 and a half years of public consultation process. The bridge was designed by primary consultant Wardrop, and architectural design was provided by Guy Préfontaine and Étienne Gaboury.

To avoid disruptions the bridges were built in phases. The vehicular bridge was begun in 2001 and completed in 2003. The total project costs reached over $72.5 million for both bridges.

The vehicular bridge's plan was originally designed to connect York and St. Mary Avenues to Provencher Boulevard, but it was cancelled in 1997. The lands for the St. Mary–York–Provencher connection were used for the construction of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Construction of the vehicular bridge began on July 20, 2001, and was completed two years later, in September.

The vehicular bridge is slightly curved, branching off from a shared abutment on the east, unlike the old bridge which was completely straight and at a slight angle. The concrete vehicular bridge spans {{Convert|280|m|ft}}, and includes such features as rock-socketed, steel-jacketed concrete caissons constructed to high elevations which help avoid the issues of spring ice-break-ups and floods.

{{Main|Esplanade Riel}}

File:SideSparCableStayBridge1.jpg

The Esplanade Riel (named for Louis Riel), the pedestrian portion of the Provencher Bridge, is a side-spar cable-stayed bridge sitting parallel to the vehicular bridge.

The construction of Esplanade Riel was added later to the Provencher Bridge project, in August 2002.http://www.ciaowinnipeg.com/images/WEG_Riel.pdf {{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Completed in 2003, the same year as the vehicular bridge, Esplanade Riel was officially opened in the summer of 2004.{{cite web|title=Esplanade Riel Pedestrian Bridge, Winnipeg, Manitoba|url=http://www.dsicanada.ca/references/bridges/esplanade-riel-bridge-canada.html|publisher=DYWIDAG-Systems International|accessdate=August 8, 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718075133/http://www.dsicanada.ca/references/bridges/esplanade-riel-bridge-canada.html|archivedate=July 18, 2014|df=mdy-all}} It was designed by Architects Guy Préfontaine and Étienne Gaboury, and Colin Douglas Stewart of Wardrop Engineering.

The bridge is {{Convert|5|m|ft}} and follows the alignment of the historic Broadway Bridge.

The Esplanade Riel features a restaurant in the middle of the bridge. Originally operated by Salisbury House, the restaurant space was home to Chez Sophie Sur Le Pont from summer 2013 to February 2015.{{cite web|title=Toilet gets mayor in hot water with Taxpayers|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/toilet-gets-mayor-in-hot-water-with-taxpayers-1.397048|publisher=CBC News|access-date=August 8, 2012|date=May 19, 2003}}{{cite web| url = http://www.winnipegsun.com/2013/03/24/new-restaurant-on-esplanade-riel-gets-a-name| title = New restaurant on Esplanade Riel gets a name {{!}} Winnipeg Sun}} {{Cite news|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Chez-Sophie-on-the-Esplanade-Riel-bridge-is-closing-down-290584371.html|title = Feb 2015: Chez Sophie on the Esplanade Riel bridge is closing down|newspaper = Winnipeg Free Press|date = February 2, 2015}} The bridge's next tenant, Mon Ami Louis, opened in July 2015 as an "approachable and eschewing the haute cuisine haughtiness of French dining."{{cite web| url = http://www.winnipegsun.com/2015/07/21/mon-ami-louis-opens-on-esplanade-riel| title = Mon Ami Louis opens on Esplanade Riel {{!}} Winnipeg Sun}}

• List of bridges in Canada
• List of bridges

{{Commons category|Provencher Bridge}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050914080815/http://www.winnipeg.ca/publicworks/Engineering/ProvencherBridge.asp Provencher bridge]

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Category:Road bridges in Manitoba

Category:Buildings and structures in Winnipeg

Category:Bridges completed in 2003

Category:St. Boniface, Winnipeg

Category:Buildings and structures in downtown Winnipeg