NEW RELEASE

Premiere Oct 1st

Available in Video or DVD & European Format (PAL)

$26.00

plus shipping and applicable taxes

Cover Design by Mildred Jane Baines

The Rudy Johnson Bridge

Most thought his scheme just wasn’t going to work. "That bridge will fall in the river!" One spring day in 1968, Rudy Johnson’s wife, Helen, fell off the Soda Creek reaction ferry and was almost swept away by the Fraser River. That's when Rudy made up his mind to build a bridge across British Columbia's mightiest river. He located an abandoned bridge in Alaska, transported its 3,300 pieces by barge and rail to William Lake, and spanned the Fraser opposite his Buckskin Ranch. There wasn't enough room on the riverbank to construct the whole bridge, so Rudy relied on techniques used in the logging industry. For 10 days, half of the bridge hung out over the river on cables called skylines, while the rest of the bridge was assembled.

The Rudy Johnson Bridge was the only privately owned toll bridge on the Fraser until the provincial government purchased it in 1978. Historic footage, combined with stories by Rudy, his crew, sole engineer Howard Elder P.Eng. BC and shareholders, make this Cariboo documentary a