Engineering Pilgrimage in Quebec City

Quebec City is located on the North shore of the St Lawrence River. To cross the river, one can take the ferry, or one of two bridges, the newer Pierre Laporte Suspension Bridge, or the historic Quebec Bridge, the object of my pilgrimage.

The construction for the Quebec Bridge started in 1904, but due to design errors, it collapsed on Aug 29, 1907, killing 75 people. After a Royal Commission of Inquiry, construction was underway again. Unfortunately, when the main span was lifted into place on Sept 11, 1916, it collapsed again and killed 13 people. Finally, the bridge was opened on Aug 22, 1919 by the Prince of Wales, almost 12 years after the first collapse. To date, it is still the world’s longest cantilever bridge span, and is the westernmost complete crossing of the St Lawrence River.

In order to commemorate the Quebec Bridge disasters, graduates from Canadian engineer schools were given iron rings to be worn on the pinkies of their dominate hands. They serve as constant reminders of our social responsibilities and that our work must be of the highest quality.

When I received my iron ring upon graduation, I knew the history of the bridge, the story of how they melted the iron from the collapsed bridge to make the early iron rings, and the significance of the ring. However, I always wanted to see this infamous bridge in person. You can imagine my excitement when I found out this bridge is only 10km from where I was living in Quebec City.



The suspension bridge in the back is the Pierre Laporte Bridge, built in 1970 to cope with increased traffic. The beautiful cantilever bridge in front is le Pont du Quebec, and the origin of my iron ring.