Rogers Pass
| Rogers Pass | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 The Rogers Pass and surrounding mountains |
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| Compass direction | west | east | |
| Pass height | 1330 m | ||
| province | British Columbia ( Canada ) | ||
| Watershed | Illecillewaet River → Columbia River | Beaver River → Columbia River | |
| Valley locations | Revelstoke | Golden | |
| expansion | Trans-Canada Highway | ||
| Mountains | Selkirk Mountains | ||
| map | |||
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| Coordinates | 51 ° 18 '5 " N , 117 ° 31' 12" W | ||
The Rogers Pass is a 1330 m high mountain pass in the Selkirk Mountains in the Canadian province of British Columbia . The Trans-Canada Highway runs over it , while the transcontinental railroad line of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) crosses the pass in the Connaught Tunnel and the Mount Macdonald Tunnel . The pass is a shortcut in a major bend in the Columbia River between Revelstoke to the west and Golden to the east. It was discovered on May 29, 1881 by Albert Bowman Rogers , a surveyor in the service of the CPR. In recognition of the technical achievement in railway construction, the pass was declared a National Historic Site of Canada on May 27, 1971, by the Canadian government .
geography
The pass is located in the center of the Glacier National Park and is the starting point for numerous popular ski tours and mountaineering routes in the surrounding mountains. There is a visitor center, several hotels and the administration of the national park. The pass itself is a narrow high valley bordered by steep mountain walls. The Illecillewaet River flows to the west and the Beaver River to the east . Both are tributaries of the Columbia River , which makes a detour 150 miles north of the pass and the mountain range.
The Rogers Pass is known for strong snowfall ; about ten meters of snow fall here every winter. Avalanches are very common because of the steep mountain slopes .
discovery
When the Canadian state planned the Canadian Pacific Railway during the 1870s, the route initially proposed should lead over the Yellowhead Pass further north . When the construction of the railway was transferred to a private company in 1881, the Kicking Horse Pass on the border with Alberta was chosen instead as the crossing point on the continental divide . But still a way had to be found through the as yet unexplored Selkirk Mountains .
Major Albert Bowman Rogers was hired by CPR in April 1881 to find a pass crossing. He was promised a check for $ 5,000, and the passport was to be named after him. The engineer Walter Moberly had previously discovered the Eagle Pass a little further to the west . Trusting Moberly's guesswork, Rogers began his expedition at what is now the city of Revelstoke .
Rogers and his expedition companions followed the Illecillewaet River. Since they ran out of food, they turned back shortly before the pass. The second expedition in 1882 led from the east through the valley of the Beaver River. Rogers came to a point where he could see the point where he had been forced to turn back last year. Now he was certain that he had found a suitable crossing for the railway, which at that time was already at a very advanced stage of construction. The CPR kept the promise, christening the crossing "Rogers Pass" and handing the check. Rogers initially refused to cash the check, framing it instead, saying he did it not for money but for fame. Finally, CPR manager William Cornelius Van Horne was able to persuade him to cash in when he put an engraved watch on it.
Canadian Pacific Railway
When the railroad was built over the pass in 1884, the eastern valley required the construction of some of the largest bridges on the route, including the often-photographed Stoney Creek Bridge . A series of loops were built on the west side to avoid the steepest slopes and the most dangerous avalanche zones. After the route was completed in November 1885, it was closed for the time being in the following winter to watch the avalanches. Based on these observations, 31 avalanche protection galleries with a total length of 6.5 kilometers were built.
Despite all the precautionary measures, some tragic avalanche accidents occurred. In 1899, for example, eight people were killed when an avalanche destroyed the train station at the top of the pass. In 1910 a team was traveling with a snow plow to clear the just buried stretch when a second avalanche broke off; 62 people died in this railway accident at Rogers Pass . The CPR then decided to build the 8.1 kilometer long Connaught Tunnel under the Rogers Pass to avoid the dangerous zone. The tunnel, opened in 1916, was the longest in North America at the time . This was supplemented in 1988 by the 14.7 kilometer long Mount Macdonald Tunnel . Internally, the section between Field and Revelstoke is referred to as the Mountain Subdivision .
Trans-Canada Highway
The main road between Revelstoke and Golden led along the Columbia River and made the big detour via the "big bend" far north of the Rogers Pass. Between 1956 and 1962, Highway 1 was built over the pass to shorten the route. A number of avalanche protection galleries and earth dams protect this highway from the avalanches.
In order to be able to keep the Trans-Canada Highway open in winter and to eliminate the danger to road traffic , the Canadian Army triggers controlled avalanches with 105 mm howitzers every winter between November and April at the request of Parks Canada (Operation Palaci) .
Web links
- Rogers Pass ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .
- Rogers Pass National Historic Site website
- History of Rogers Pass (English)
- Calgary Herold: Film report on Operation PALACI , February 2015 (running time 2:23, English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Rogers Pass National Historic Site of Canada. In: Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved October 17, 2013 .
- ↑ Mountain Subdivision , (English)
- ↑ Operation Palaci. National Defense and the Canadian Armed Forces, January 31, 2014, accessed November 17, 2014 .