Site Location: Lat.: 50° – 26’ – 5” N; Long.: 104° – 37’ – 25” W. (GPS: 50.434638, -104.6235363). From the Saskatchewan Legislative Building, walk 200 m west on Legislative Drive to Albert Street/CanAm Highway. Turn right (north) and walk 160 m to the south end of the bridge.
Plaque Location: On the east face of the first east decorative column at the north end of the bridge.
Description: Premier J. T. M. Anderson opened the 256 m (940 ft.)-long Albert Memorial Bridge on November 10, 1930, when it was dedicated as a memorial to the Saskatchewan solders who died in World War I. Its construction was part of a large relief project during the Great Depression, employing 700 men. American consulting engineer Claude A. P. Turner was the structural engineer. The bridge is highly ornamented, with Egyptian motifs, lamp standards, flag-staffs, glazed terra-cotta balusters and buffalo heads designed by the architectural firm of Puntin, O’Leary and Coxall. In 1998, after a $1.4 million restoration project, the bridge was re-dedicated. In 2009 the bridge underwent another refurbishment with the deck resurfaced and the decorative elements restored.
Historic Significance: The construction of the Albert Memorial Bridge was part of a larger relief project that also included draining and dredging the adjacent Wascana Lake, and building two islands in the lake. Claude Allen Porter Turner (1869-1955) was a prominent American structural engineer who designed a number of buildings and bridges in the Midwestern United States and patented the Spiral Mushroom reinforced concrete flat-slab system in 1908. Albert Street is named in honour of Prince Albert, the husband and consort of Queen Victoria, for whom Regina is named.
Plaque Wording: Historic Civil Engineering Site. CSCE. ALBERT MEMORIAL BRIDGE. Regina, Saskatchewan. Constucted – 1030. Length – 256 metres. Officially opened – November 10, 1930. Engineers & Architects – Puntin, O’Leary & Coxall. Minister of Public Works – Hon. James F. Bryant. Built as a relief project at the onset of the Great Depression, as part of improvements to Wascana Lake that employed over 2100 workers, this bridge was originally dedicated as a memorial to soldiers from Saskatchewan who served in World War 1. Completed at a cost of almost $250,000, the bridge replaced a more modest structure built in 1908. This plaque was unveiled on June 4, 1999 on the occasion of the 27th Annual Canadian for Civil Engineering Conference held in Regina. The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering.
Site Historique de Génie Civil. SCGC. ALBERT MEMORIAL BRIDGE. Regina, Saskatchewan. Construit en 1930. Longeur: 256 mètres. Inauguré officiellement le 10 novembre 1930. Ingénieurs et architects: Puntin, O’Leary et Coxall. Ministre des Traveaux Publics: l’hon. James F. Bryant. Construit dans le cadre des programmes de secours créés lors de la grande crise de 1929, ce pont faisait partie des améliorations apportées au lac Wascana, auxquelles travaillèrent plus de 2 100 travailleurs. Lors de son inauguration officielle, if fut considéré comme un monument commémoratif á la mémoire des soldats de Saskatchewan ayant servi lors de la première guerre mondiale. Réalisé au prix de 250 000 $, ce pont remplaçait un ouvrage plus modeste érigé en 1908. Cette plaque a été déviolée le 4 juin 1999, à l’occasion du 27e congrès annuel de la Société canadienne de génie civil, qui eut lieu à Regina. Société canadienne de genie civil.
Plaque Unveiling Ceremony: June 4, 1999.
Link to Online Documentation: