piranha: red origami crane (Default)
renaissance poisson ([personal profile] piranha) wrote2011-05-22 11:48 pm

excursion into history

i actually left the house today! the last two days i felt like crap; heart rhythm problems all day long, but today when i woke up (late afternoon) i felt like going for a walk. going somewhere i hadn't been before. i've been wanting to see the kinsol trestle ever since i found out about it, but somehow it never happened. i donated some money for its restoration a few years ago and was curious whether they ever got the project completely funded; in 2007 the province wanted to tear the structure down because it had dangerously deteriorated, and it was going to be very expensive to restore. the budget ended up at 7.5 million C$; the feds, the province, and local government all kicked in.

the trestle was finished in 1920, and stretches 187.2 m (614 feet) at a maximum height of 44.2 m (145 feet); it is the largest wooden trestle in the commonwealth -- and it was built by local farmers and loggers, which i find pretty impressive. the last train passed over it in 1979.

kinsol trestle

it's scheduled to open this summer (we'll see whether it or the boat get done first, *snrk*); it looked close to finished. alas i couldn't get a good picture because the construction zone at both ends is blocked off and guarded; gotta go back once it is open. i am kind of amazed they got the funding; that's a lot of money for something that will fulfill only a recreational function, and will require expensive, ongoing maintenance. but it's exciting anyway, because it's such a beautiful structure, and because the transcanada trail for that section will finally get off the highway.

below is a pretty cool time-lapse video of the restoration put out by BC's ministry of transportation.

jesse_the_k: text: Be kinder than need be: everyone is fighting some kind of battle (Default)

[personal profile] jesse_the_k 2011-05-23 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
The time lapse was delightful (particularly the many-many tonne construction machines which pop in and out of view). Looks like it will be a popular place for people learning how to free climb.

Does the trestle sit in a seasonal stream bed? I couldn't quite tell from the pix.