Mural and concrete counterweight being removed from rail bridge at The Forks

Posted on December 3, 2024 by Peggy

The concrete counterweight that has stood since 1914 above the historic rail bridge at The Forks in Winnipeg is coming down, and along with it, the mural by Indigenous artist Mike Valcourt.

The Forks has been struggling with the aging bridge since closing the span in June 2023 after structural assessments uncovered safety concerns.

The removal of the counterweight is the first step in what is anticipated to be a long-term repair project, Zach Peters, communications and marketing manager at The Forks, said in a news release.

This step will help determine the next phases of necessary work, he said.

A structure blocked by some screens with some signage, including the words 'Bridge Closed, No trespassing' — The crossing has been off limits to the public since June 2023, when structural assessments uncovered safety concerns. (Gary Solilak/CBC)

The counterweight will not be returned to its place, reaching skyward above one of the abutments, so The Forks is working with Valcourt to recreate the mural somewhere inside the market building.

Jackson Beardy – Woodlands Group of Seven Tribute is the name of the mural on the counterweight, completed in 2006. It pays tribute to Cree artist Jackson Beardy and other members of the Indigenous Group of Seven.

The Forks is prioritizing getting the bridge reopened as it is an important connector over the Assiniboine River from the site’s main area to Niizhoziibean, the area formerly known as South Point.

Originally named the Low Line Freight Bridge when it opened in 1914, the bridge helped transform an area known as the Hudson’s Bay Company Flats during the fur-trading era.

The site around the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers began being used as a railway yard by the Northern Pacific and Manitoba Railway in 1886, which then built the first crossing over the Assiniboine in 1888.

After years of struggle, NPMR was leased by Canadian Northern Railway, which partnered with Grand Trunk Pacific and National Transcontinental Railway shortly after the turn of the 20th century to further expand the yards and develop Union Station, according to the Winnipeg Architecture Foundation.

A bridge — The concrete counterweight is part of a mechanism that was created to allow the bridge to rise and let tall boats, like steamships, pass underneath. (Gary Solilak/CBC)

The original 1888 wooden bridge was eventually dismantled after the Low Line Freight Bridge was built parallel to it, to accommodate heavier freight loads and more rail traffic.

The bridge had an electric motor operating on large gears in order to raise the span for tall river traffic, such as steamships. The counterweight was part of the overall mechanism.

The federal government had deemed the Assiniboine a navigable waterway and legislated that any bridge over it had to lift.

However, it is rumoured the Low Line Freight Bridge was never raised, the architecture foundation says.

The bridge stopped being used in the 1960s and was abandoned until the railway yards were removed in the 1980s and The Forks was remade as a gathering site and market.

The bridge was rehabilitated in the early 1990s and converted into a crossing for pedestrians, cyclists, and skaters in the winter.