Spanning Time: The Bridges of Ottawa-Gatineau
SPECIAL EVENT IN APPRECIATION OF OUR MEMBERS, DONORS, SPONSORS & VOLUNTEERS
Ottawa is a place where three rivers meet: the Ottawa, Gatineau and Rideau. Starting in 2021, and motivated by the possible dismantling of the Alexandra Bridge that opened in 1901, Adriana David spent months researching and recording 44 bridges for an illustrated book that honours the architecture of these spans and stories behind their erection.
Join Adriana who will share what she uncovered about early settlers and the growing communities along the riverbanks, capturing the stories of entrepreneurs, politicians, immigrants, and monarchs, and the First Nations who came before them all, travelling along trade routes that led to the first bridges. Discover how each bridge connects neighbourhoods and the people of Ottawa and Gatineau, and learn about the triumphs and tragedies that lay embedded in the bridges’ stones and steel and how their quiet, constant beauty forms the backdrop to Canada’s Capital.
Adriana David moved to Ottawa in the early 1990s and has spent decades paddling down, running aside, and being amazed by Ottawa’s three great rivers – the Ottawa, Rideau, and Gatineau. In time, she became just as enthralled with the city’s bridges.