uvenir
Supplement
for
Opening
of
Skeena
-River
Highway
4
LABOR
DAY
.
SPECIAL
non.,
Sept.
4,
1
944
SECTION
A
NOTABLE
ICHIEVEMENT
The
completion
of
the
Skeena
River
Highway
marks
a
distinct
advance
in
the
transportation
facilities
of
Northern
and
Central
JiritishColumbia.
Jn
supply.;,
ik
Petroleum
Products
to
the
various
contracting
companies
who
have
done
such
excellent
work,
Imperial
Oil
Limited
are
proud
to
have
shared
in
the
con
struction
of
this
-strategic
high-
way.
Imperial
dealers
at
Prince
Rupert,
Terrace,
Hazclton
and
Intermediate
points.
V
MPERIAL
OIL
LIMITED
)RTHERN
CONSTRUCTION
CO.
and
J.
W.
STEWART
LIMITED
Engineers
and
Contractors
MNCE
RUPERT
VANCOUVER
Terrace
-Cedarvale
Highway
Section
1.
road
Highroad
To
a
New
Prosperity
it
IE
MAN
ENGINEER
ing
the
construction
ntaln
highway
is
not
ilities
of
many
men
tne
Department
of
i
Resources
wanted
a
ake
charge
of
field
he
Skeena
River
Hlgh-rtmcnt
heads
chose
O.
aid
for
the
Job.
Ie
man.
Mr,
Archibald
Prince
Rupert
from
to
make
his
head-efore
construction
heme
1942,
ncllned
to
get
lyrical
have
had
a
part
in
It."
beauties
and
pros-the
country
surround-oad,
and
the
many
rho
Investigate
them
iars
to
come
will
find
iocs
not
exaggerate
In
i
tlons.
Where
the
road
parallels
the
railway
along
the
Skeena
It
diverts
around
all
tunnels.
All
45
bridges
on
the
new
highway
were
prefabricated
In
Vancouver.
War
Emergency
Brings
Into
Being
a
Great
Project
That
Conquest
of
Mountainous
Difficulties
Culminates
in
Opening
of
Important
Land
Outlet
for
This
District
(Uy
J.
K.
McLcod,
Daily
News
Staff)
Whon
Can
ruin,
ma
rip
lior
hnlrl
nnswni
fn
flio
.Tannn.
ese
challenge
of
Pearl
Harbor
the
transportation
i
t.:
:
l
r
n
and
the
railway
line
to
the
In
terior
centre
of
Terrace,
a
total
distance
of
78
miles.
From
Terrace
an
earlier
pro
vlncial-bullt
road
takes
over.
Crossing
the
river
on
a
steel
bridge
just
east
of
the
town
it
proceeds
alqng
the
south
bank
for
25
miles,
where
it
ends
abruptly
at
a
series
of
rock
bastions
at
a
point
opposite
the
village
of
Pacific.
The
eastern
section
of
the
new
road
survey
extended
from
that
point
to
a
point
opposite
Cedar-vale,
33
miles
eastward.
There
the
provincial
road
took
over
to
Hazelton,
195
miles
east
of
Prince
Rupert.
The
logic
displayed
by
the
federal
government
In
turning
the
enterprise
over
to
the
Engln
eering
Construction
Service
oi
its
Department
of
Mines
and
Natural
Resources
was
confirmed
by
the
vast
amount
of
hara
rock'
work
Involved.
No
estl-
Dragline
shovel
loading
a
dumpter
with
gravel
for
cushidh
from
the"
Skeena
River.
Greetings.
.
.
The
Paclfic-Ced?.vale
stretch
was
built
by
Highway
Construction
and
Campbell
Contractors
Limited,
of
Vancouver.
Guiaed
from
Ottawa
by
J.
M.
j
Wardle,
Director
of
Engineering
Construction
Servjce,
and
T.
S.
J
Mills,
chief
engineer,
the
work
was'
supervised
by
field
engineer
G.
D.
Archibald,
city
engineer
of
Saskatoon,
on
loan
to
the
Department.
His
base
of
operations
was
Prince
Rupert.
Construction
men
who
took
the
contracts
knew
that
the
would
have
to
deal
Nature
of
direct
body
punches
to
put
the
road
through.
Many
of
them
figured
that
the
job
would
take
a
year,
and
it
is
likely
that
the
would
have
been
right
had
their
difficulties
been
presented
by
na
ture
alone.
But
warume
conditions
created
shortages
of
manpower
and
equipment
replacements
which
doubled
the
estimated
time.
In
spite
of
high
wages
and
good
living
conditions
If
was
difficult
to
hold
men.
Mr.
Archi
bald
revealed
that
the
average
I
time
workmen
stayed
on
their
jobs
was
60
days.
The
cold,
wet
summer
of
1943,
when
construct-
,
Hon
work
was
at
its
height,
was
largely
responsible.
.
"There
were
too
many
other
jebs
with
good
wages
available,"
Mr.
Archibald
explained.
The
endless
bruising
that
equipment
received
necessitated
a
constant
flow
of
spare
parts.
These
were
not
forthcoming,
and
not
even
miracles
of
Improvisation
and
repair
toy
contractors'
field
malntainance
units
could
keep
the
myriad
oi
On
behalf
of
the
City
Council
and
Citiiens
of
Prince.
Rupert
I
extend
to
all
visitors
participating
In
the
celebration
of
the
completion
of
the
Prince
Rupert-Hazelton
Highway
a
hearty
welcome
to
our
city
and
district
and
trust
that
they
will
carry
away
with
them
pleasant
memories
of
their
visit
here.
H.
M.
DAGGETT,
Rtuyor
of
Trlncc
Rupert
the
muskeg,
gouging
out
a
trough
which
trucks
and
dump-
ters
filled
with
stone.
So
time-
consuming
was
this
procedure
that
the
contractors
found
It
ad
visable
to
turn
over
four
miles
of
their1
original
contract
to
the
adjacent'
Ray
her
firm.
The-iTye,-Terrace
section
w
.1,-7?
1-
teiv
as
a
tight'
'squeeze
In
many
spot
Often
the'
Canadian
National
line
had
already
taken
up
the
narrow
margin
between
mountains
and
the
river.
Where
the
survey
ran
close
between
the
two
the..
builders,
were
forced-
pour
rock
into
the
stream
-to
to
Will
Help
Unite
All
the
Communities
of
Central
British
Columbia
1'iuuiu
ivi
uiu
iniiitipai
snipping
puri,
ui
iiuniiem
British
Columbia
consisted
of
a
tenuous
railway
line
stretched
across
the
province,
and
by
the
churning
wakes
of
vulnerable
coastwise
shipping.
The
western
part
or
tne
rail
line
picked
Its
way
down
the
rock-girt
Skeena
River
Valley,
west
of
Prince
George
and
Hazelton,
to
its
destination
at
Prjnce
Rupert.
It
traversed
some
of
the
most
rugged
canyon
country
of
all
Canada.
Traffic
on
this
line
became
so
congested
in
the
first
fe
months
of
the
1942
emergency
that
the
need
for
some
secondary
type
of
land
transport
ceased
to
be
merely
desirable,
and
be
came
a
definite
necessity.
The
federal
government's
answer
was
the
completion
of
the
partly-finished
Skeena
River
highway.
Anil
thereby
be
pan
a
construction
project
whose-
liter
ally
mountainous
difficulties
now
culminate
in
the
opening'
I
of
the
highway.
That
is
took
a
first
class'emer-
gency
to
brine
about
the
com
pletion
of
the
road
may
stem
surprising.
On
a
map
the
job
would
not
look
like
much
merely
to
join
two"
unfinished
links
in
the
provincial
gove-ernmcnt
highway,
the
combined
lengths
of
which
totalled
only
111
miles.
Enterprise
of
Great
Magnitude
Yet
actually
"Hhe
project
was
a
rock-moving
enterprise
of
suchymagnltuae
it
required
nine
construction
companies
working
from
a
year
to
two
years
under
limited
contracts,
to
finish.
Over
$2,000,000
worth
of
equipment
was
used
to
overcome
construction,
difficulties
some
of
which
were
said
to
be
unparelled
on
this
continent.
Following
a
line
determined
some
years
ago
by
the
provincial
government's
chief
locating
engineer,
H.
L.
Hayne,
of
Kam-loops.
the
new
road
began
(from
the
coastal
point
of
view)
at
Prudhomme
Lake,
11
miles
east
of
Prince
Rupert.
Heading
south
for
seven
miles
it
touched
the
north
bank
of
the
Skeena
Riyer
at
the
station
of
Tyce,
then
parallcd
the
river
mate
of
the
rock
yardage
moved
is
yet
available,
but
the
westernmost
seven
miles
"between
Prudhomme
Lake
and
Tyee,
contains
90
per
cent
solid
rock.
The
remainder
of
the
78
milt,
western
stretch
was
from
40
to
85
percent
of
the
same
substance.
Five
Toronto
and
four
Vancouver
construction
companies
worked
on
the
road.
The
west
ern
partdivided
into
seven
sections
of
slightly
more
than
11
miles
each,
was
blasted
through
by
Northern
Construction
and
J.j
W.
Stewart,
of
Vancouver,
Rfcyner
Construction,
Tomlinson
c6nstruction,
Standard
Paving,
McNarmara
Construction,
and
Dufferin,
of
Toronto,
and
Gen
cral
Construction,
of
Vancouver.
Power
shovel
dropping
boulders
Into
a
dumpter.
The
dumpter
was
found
a
highly
satisfactory
carrying
unit.
bulldozers,
cranes,
trucks
anu-
shovels
in
action
all
the
time.
Orders
in
this
line
often
arrived
as
much
as
six
months
late.
Terrain
Was
Very
Stubborn
4
Rarely
do
construction
met.
have
to
face
so
stubborn
a
stretch
of
terrain
as
that
con
tained
in
the
seven-mile
stretch
between
Prudhomme
Lake
anc1.
Tyee.
A
three-mile
long,
600
foot-high
corrugated
rock
summit,
whose
wrinkles
are
filled
with
muskeg
In
some
places
to
a
depth
of
25
feet,
remained
the
final
barrier.
Northern
Construction
and
J.
W.
Stewart,
blasting
through
these
corrugations,
shovelled
muskeg
out
of
the
Intervening
depressions
until
they
reach
bedrock,
then
poured
in
shattered
rock
to
roadbed
level.
Power
shovels,
their
treads
supported
by
plank
pads,
moved
across
Northern
Construction
and
J.
W.
Stewart,
of
Vancouver,
had
to
skirt
many
mountain
crests
similar
to
this
In
the
extremely
difficult
Prudhomme
Lake-Tyee
section
of
the
new
road.
build
a
shelf
for
tne
road.
These
fills
extended
for
miles,
and
roc.
was
poured
into
holes
to
a
depth
of
40
feet.
Rock
was
obtained
from
cuts
Greetings.
.
.
and
"borrow
pits."
The
latter
were
deposits
of
loose
rock
arid
clay,
some
of
which
contained
(Continued
on
Page
4)
See
BROAD
HIGHWAY
The
Commissioners
of
the
Village
Corporation
of
Terrace
take
this
opportunity
of
welcoming'
visitors'
to
Terrace
on
the
occasion
of
the
opening
'of
ittieSkeeni
High-way
and
hope
that
this
will
be
but
the
beginning'
of
a
new
era
of
friendly
co-operation
between
the
various
communities
now
connected
by
this
great
road.
E.
IIAUGLAND,
(Chairman
of
Commissioners)
The
Highway
To
S
uccess
In
tendering
this
message
of
hearty
congrat
ulation
to
the
people
of
Prince
Rupert
arid?
the
country
through
which
the
new
Skeena
River
Highway
runs,
we
would
like
to
add
a
sincere
wish
that
this
splendid
new
road
may
lead
to
success
and
happiness
for
all
who
travel
thereon.
UNION
OIL
COMPANY
OF
CANADA
LIMITED
J.
E.
MORRIS
Local
Manager
You'll
find
a
friendly
welcome
and
good
service
at
the
Union
Oil
Minute
Man
Station
at
RAINBOW
LAKE
iook
rot
THIS
SION
r
(w6
v.