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Richmond and its Bridges: Fifteen Crossings of the Fraser River (City of Richmond Archives $14.95)
Although the first major bridge to cross the Fraser River is considered to be the Alexandra Bridge built near Spuzzum in 1863, the Hug Gil Get (aka Hag Wil Get) Bridge made of abandoned telegraph wire was built three years prior, in 1860.
In the late 1850s, a man named Colonel Bulkley was commissioned to build a telegraph line from North America to Europe by way of B.C., Alaska and Siberia.
In 1958 he received the bad news that a telegraph cable had successfully been laid across the Atlantic, the Colonel abandoned his project and dumped a large quantity of telegraph wire in the Hazelton area.
The aboriginal people in the community used some of the wire to tie wooden poles together to create the unusual looking Hug Gil Get Bridge, which served residents and travellers in the area for 50 years.
"Hug Gil Get was the first bridge in the province that made use of material other than wood or stone,"; says Alan Dawe in Richmond and its Bridges: Fifteen Crossings of the Fraser River (City of Richmond Archives $14.95).
[BCBW 1997]
In the late 1850s, a man named Colonel Bulkley was commissioned to build a telegraph line from North America to Europe by way of B.C., Alaska and Siberia.
In 1958 he received the bad news that a telegraph cable had successfully been laid across the Atlantic, the Colonel abandoned his project and dumped a large quantity of telegraph wire in the Hazelton area.
The aboriginal people in the community used some of the wire to tie wooden poles together to create the unusual looking Hug Gil Get Bridge, which served residents and travellers in the area for 50 years.
"Hug Gil Get was the first bridge in the province that made use of material other than wood or stone,"; says Alan Dawe in Richmond and its Bridges: Fifteen Crossings of the Fraser River (City of Richmond Archives $14.95).
[BCBW 1997]
Submitted on August 13, 2003 in By David.
