Four massive reinforced concrete piers, each 125 feet tall, were set in the river bed and 62 smaller piers to support the steel legs were erected on land. The work was dangerous and at least three workers lost their lives in construction mishaps. One worker fell to his death and was entombed in the north concrete pier.

Steel for the superstructure was fabricated at the Canadian Bridge Company plant in Walkerville, Ontario and shipped by rail to Strathcona. Working from the Strathcona approach, a large steam-powered traveller crane lifted and held the steel components in place for rivetting.

"People used to gather to watch the construction," recalled Alfred Want, who was 91 years old when I interviewed him in 1992. He was just a schoolboy when the bridge was being built, and he remembered it as a time of excitement at the novelty and scale of the undertaking.

"Most folks had never seen anything like it -- the columns were so large. And I remember some people being upset about the bridge construction interfering with logs coming down the river for Walter's Mill (in what is now Walterdale).

On October 3rd, 1912, 50 steelworkers walked off the job in protest at the working conditions. Their demands included a nine-instead of ten-hour working day and 50 cents an hour, a raise of five cents. The strike was brief but the surviving records of the day don't make it clear whether their demands were met.

The massive structure -- some 777 metres (2,550 feet) from one end to the other (877 metres including approaches) and 46 metres (152 feet) above the mean river level -- was completed in May 1913. Unique for its time, the High Level was the first in Canada to carry four different modes of traffic - rail, streetcar, automobile and pedestrian.

The first passenger train, seven cars long and carrying 200 passengers, crossed the bridge from Strathcona to Edmonton on June 2, 1913. The entire structure was declared complete on September 12, 1913.

The new bridge created considerable excitement in the region. Some people declined to ride in the streetcar across its upper deck, saying a car would surely be swept over the side by a gust of wind.

Since its completion, the bridge has remained essentially unchanged, although there have been some alterations. Modifications were made to the south automobile approach in 1931 and the lighting system in 1939. The city contemplated painting the bridge gold in 1967 to commemorate Canada's Centennial, but it didn't happen and the span retained its original black colour.

Extensive repairs in 1971 gave the High Level a new lower deck and girders at both ends were rearranged for safety considerations. In 1980, as part of Edmonton's Project Uni transportation plan, it was made one-way southbound for automobiles.

After two years of debate and wrangling with the interested parties, artist Peter Lewis's vision of a waterfall from the upper deck of the bridge came to be in 1980. The 'Great Divide Waterfall,' with a drop of 45 metres (150 feet), operates during holiday weekends in the summer months.

In 1994/95, a $19.9 million facelift repaired spans and piers and the road deck through sandblasting and painting. The sidewalk was also rejuvenated and a new pedestrian and cycle pedway was constructed on the west side of the span.

The restoration marked the first time many parts of the venerable structure had been repaired since it was finished in 1913. That the High Level has survived so well with a lack of maintenance is a testament to the workmanship of those who built it.

Led by Edmonton-based PCL Constructors, crews of as many as 200 at one time worked gradually and meticulously from the south side of the bridge to the north. After a lifetime of service, sandblasting uncovered a lot of rust and some spans that needed reinforcement. In some places, workers were able to put their hands right through the metal. During the rehabilitation, the bridge soaked up 100,000 litres of new black paint.

While Model T's have given way to sport utility vehicles, the High Level Bridge remains one of Edmonton's most invigorating drives. For the walker or the cyclist, it serves up perhaps the best view of the river valley.

While trains no longer run across the High Level (CPR stopped using it in 1989), every summer streetcars operated by the Edmonton Radial Railway Society trundle across the upper deck. And now, the High Level can look down on its upstart sibling, the Dudley C. Menzies Bridge, and watch Light Rapid Transit (LRT) trains traverse its deck.

If you'd like to offer your thoughts, please drop me an email at lawrenceherzog@hotmail.com. For information on reprints of previously published articles, check out my website at www.lawrenceherzog.com