THE BRITISH COLUMBIA JULY, 1965

PUBLISHED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS VOLUME 2, NUMBER 3

Highways Ferry Service

During the past year 49 ferries of all types were oper­ated under the jurisdiction of the Department of Highways,The fleet consists of 12 major ferries, 13 power-cableferries, 13 reaction ferries, four miscellaneous ferries, allgovernment owned, and seven privately-owned. subsidizedferries .

M. V. Westwood up on the ways for annual inspection. CaptainJohn Ovans and his crew anxiously wait for the refit and en­deauour to cope with the traffic to Gabriola Island using are­lief vessel .

The entire fleet carried 2,008,692 vehicles and 5,087,565passengers. This was a decrease of 33,934 vehicles and141,238 passengers from the preceding year owing to thereplacement of several ferries by bridges and also theopening of the Rogers Pass and Salmo Creston routes. Asin past years, the Castlegar ferry continued to carry thelargest volume of traffic-887,656 vehicles and 2.083,033passengers.

District Officials in other districts may be interested in the SodaCreek Ferry which has a "single-single" Bailey Bridging weldedonto the pontoons.

The MV • Comox Queen" went into service May 20, 1965.This newest Highways ferry is able to accommodate 25-30c ar s and 150 passengers while maintaining a service speedof 14 knots. The crossing from Comox on Vancouver Islandto Powell River on the Mainland is made in 100 minutes. Forthe period May 20th - June 30th, she carried 3,059 vehicles.and 10,401 passengers.

2

AERIAL FERRYUnique In North America

Next time you are travelling through the scenic FraserCanyon, stop off at Boston Bar and visit the unique North BendAerial Ferry, situated just off the Trans Canada Highway onthe Fraser River.

Designed and built in 1940 under the supervision of J. T.Hepburn, Chief Design Engineer with the Department ofPublic Works, it has a capacity of one vehicle weighing threetons or less, or 40 passengers. The ferry - cage" carries itspayload on two overhead -track" cables, for a total distanceof 1,208 feet, at a height of about 380 feet above the normallevel of the Fraser River. A crew of two men, one in thestationary control centre and the other in the ferry cage,operates the service. A round trip is accomplished in justunder four minutes. The original two operators were QuentinWashtock and William (Bill) Hoggan, who are still employeesof the Department at Boston Bar.

Although operating only nine hours a day during its firstyear of servtce, this ferry carried a total of 3,954 vehiclesand nearly 25,000 passengers, In 1947the demands of increas­ing traffic necessitated extending the service to 16 hoursdaily. Then in 1959, a 24-hour service was inaugurated tocope with the traffic volume, which had increased to 29,000vehicles and 68,500 passengers annually. Except for repairsand modifications, the ferry has been in almost continuousservice since its inception in 1940.

It did, however, cease operations briefly during the ex­treme high water period in the spring of 1948, when it waspossible to dip Fraser River water from the deck of theferry at midstream.

Safety is a very important feature of this unique ser vice.During the period from 1958 to 1962 the North Bend Ferrycrew won a Gold Safety Certificate for completing 60,000hours without a time loss accident.

THE ROAD-RUNNER

Volume 2 July, 1965 Number 3

Published Quarterly byDepartment of Highways-British Columbia

1690 'Main St ., North Vancouver

Ray Baines-Executive EditorArthur J . Schindel- E ditor

Associate Field Edit orsPaul Connor North VancouverAdam Kloster ' North VancouverDa ve Wardell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Burnside.J. \\'. Morris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nanai moPat Macfl art hy . . . . . . . CourtenayBill Ryan . Nort h VancouverLloyd Burgess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . New WestminsterRit chie Harold .Oak YardRoss Ellis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ChilliwackDon MacSween . . . . . Ka mloopsMurray Ramsay .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Salmon ArmDave Bowman ' . . . . . . . . Revels tokeAl Desimone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VernonFred Ev ans KelownaPete Fuoco : . . . . . . Pent ictonJames Holmes MerrittDav e Roberts .. . . . . . . . . . LillooetDen is Hill ' Williams LakeDorothy Wilkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gra nd ForksBert Staite RosslandBill Higgin s NelsonFred Angrignon New DenverIrene Labelle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CrestonS. J . T ognela Cran brookSam C~ravetta FernieJohn Edgar . . . . . . . . . . . . . GoldenBill Ingra m VictoriaSteve Sviatko . . . . . . . . . . . . . Smi thersClyd e Smaaslet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pouee CoupeEarl Lund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prince GeorgeP'It Tondevold Fort St..JohnPat O'Toole · . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Te rraceAl Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prince GeorgeAl Lirnacher Prince GeorgeGeorge Harper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QuesnelGeorge Kent VanderhoofPat Dunn . . . . . . . . . . . . . Burns LakeROller McKeown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Prince Bugect

~\!9. ----------L.OOKs L. IK Ii' W~ M ~ D £ T H E c,.~Abf Tioo !lT~ EU:- ·

Minister's Message

The term "Good Public Relations" istossed about a great deal these da ys butwhen we use it we really mean the practiceof common courtesy and human under­standing. When we get letters praisingsome individual member or group in theDepartment for their courtesy and second­effort we don't gi ve them a medal becausewe feel it is part of their j ob. But we appre­ciate it and we know it is not aluiays easy.We know there are some people who arehard to please and we know there areothers with a permanent chip on theirshoulders. We kno w that the complaintswe receive are sometimes unfair and thecriticism, unfounded. But people are notinterested in our problems only in results.We can give only the best we have and alittle more. If we do this with a smile andwith understanding few people will expectmore. This is good public relations.

3

Office StoffIn Cranbrook

Here is the Cranbrook Distri ct H igh ways office staff, left to right,F. J . Dooling, (retired) ; Mrs. N. Molander, Clerk; Mrs. F. Shaw,Clerk -Steno; Mrs . H . Johnson , Clerh-S teno; and S. J . Tognela ,District Office Manager.

IN SALMON ARM

The hard working Department of Highways office staff in SalmonA rm , left to right, Mrs Arlene Brown, and Mrs. Agnes Rudeen,stenographers; Oliver King, Timekeeper; Doug Dean, Office Man­agel'. Doug states that he cou ld not look for a more efficient,am iable and good looki ng office sta ff.

OBITUARIES

WILLIAM ALEXANDER STEWARTdied in the Prince Rupert General Hospitalon April 29th, 1965, after a brief illness Mr.Stewart, or Bill as he was known to every­one, was born on July 21, 1900, in PrinceEdward Island, He commenced work withthe Department of Highways as Road Fore­man on November 16, 1953, in Alice Arm.He is survived by his wife Margaret in AliceArm.

ROBERT W. LANE, 51, died suddenlyApril 25th at Sidney, B.C. Mr. Lane hasbeen employed with the Department since1949 and was a loader operator on the Sid­ney maintenance crew.

Grader School

Grader Seminar held at Williams Lake on May 13, 1965. Left toright, back row , James MacKay, Pete Yells, E. Gurr, A . Grosset,Roy Pickles, Fred Bare, Delmer Jasper, front row, Frank Dorsey,Trevor Lawton, Bill Fishe, F. Leavitt and Bert Hubble.

DEWDNEY DISTRICT YARDS

Before•••

After

Tbe rbefore and after" of the Dewdney District mainte1U.lll«yards. Early th is year the maintenance crew mooed from the Wil­son Avenue Yard (before) to the new Coquitlam Yard (after) on

Hastings Street in Port Coquitlam. The Wilson Avenue propertywas bought in December 1930 and the buildings were erected in1931, the construction of the new yard commenced in 1964 and isnearing completion.

STUART E. PRICE, Senior Clerk inthe New Westminster Office, won bycompeti tion a promotion to RegionalOffice Manager in Prince George.

s tu began work with the Departmentof Highways on January 17, 1949, wor­king in Victoria, Vancouver, Rosslandand New Westminster. Of the 10 yearshe was in the New Westminster area,2t years were spent in the joint NorthVancouver Office. stu is married andhe and his wife Marion, have two sons.

A farewell dinner was held in theRoyal Towers Hotel on Friday, May 7,1965 at 7 p.m, with many friends andco- worker s from the Region attending.Dur ing the evening stu was presentedwith a pair of binoculars.

JOHN GERHARDT, Truck Driver,r ecentl y won through competition, theposition of Road Maintenance ForemanGrade 1 at Burnside. John has workedfor the Department since 1956.

* * *ROBERT STEEVES, truck driver,

Saturna Island, was promoted to RoadMaintenance Foreman, Grade 1,saturna Island.

.,; i mil k am e e n District welcomesTREVOR EVANSto Allison Pass garagefrom Boston Bar where he was Me­chanic Foreman Grade I, With histransfer , he received a promotion toMechanical Foreman Grade 2.

PromotionsB.F. DOUGAN was promoted from

Engineering Aide, Grade 1, to Engin­eering Aide, Grade 2. Barney is to becongratulated on his excellent examresults this year.

JOINS COMOX QUEEN

GEORGE HERBERT KING, who hasbeen with the Highways and PublicWorks Accounts in Victoria for the pastfour years, was pr esented with anattachment for his camera as a going­away gift on Monday, June 14, 1965.George has joined the crew of the·Comox Queen" operating between Co­mox and Powell River.

George was born in London, Kent ,Eng 1and and took his elementaryschooling at Roan School, Greenwich.He went to sea as an apprentice on anoil tanker and after four a half years,he left with the rank of 4th Mate. Hethen worked in London until 1941 andwas a member of the Home Guard inLondon for the • Bli tz;'

Early in 1941 he joined the RoyalNavy as a seaman doing initial trainingat Portsmouth and serving on HMSMalaya, visited Cape Town (Madagas­car Invas ion) and took part in theC Malta Convoy" runs and was in com­pany of the • Ark Royal" when she wastorpedoed. During the North Africaninvasion he served in HMS Holcombe,a "Hunt" class destroyer which was tor­pedoed off Algiers when picking upsurvivors from another ship.

He was commissioned in 1943 andspent the next year minesweeping andduring this period served on ships withan all Danish crew flying both the Bri­tish White Ensign and the Royal DanishEnsign. The last year of the war hespent with com bin e d operations,training special forces, frogmen, mineclearance experts and beach recoveryunits,

He left the Royal Navy in 1946 withthe rank of Lieutenant RNVR and ac­cepted a job with the machine toolfirmof Alfred Herbert of Coventry. After10 years in this hard metal tool office,George sold his home in Kenilworth andemigrated to Canada. On January 13,1963, George commenced employmentwith the Highways Department in theGeneral Office and with the Highwaysand Public Works Accounts in 1961,

George is married and has onedaughter, Elizabeth Mary King, who ispresently working for the Saanich Muni­cipality.

DAVID B, TURNER, Engineer ingAide 3 at New Westminster, has beenpromoted and transferred to Depar t ­ment of Highways, New Denver , as aResident Engineer. Dave was with theNew Westminster Dis t ric t for 12months, transferring to New West­minster from Vernon. Prior to thishe worked in the Kootenays. He i smarried and has two boys and twogirls. His family will be moving toNew Denver after school closes.

A party was held on Friday, April 30thfor him when Roy Gittins, DistrictEngineer, presented Dave with somefishing gear on behalf of the New Wes t­minster Staff.

LLOYD NEWSHAM was promotedfrom Road Maintenance Foreman Grade1 on Saturna Island to Road Mainten­ance Foreman Grade 2 at Port Hardy.

. * * * \JOHN KONKIN and EMILE PONTON

promoted from Mac h i n e Operato rGrade 2 to Machine Operator Grade 3.

LEIGH STULL promoted from Ma­chine Operator Grade 4 to Machi neOperator Grade 5.

MRS, MARIE GIDDINGS was recentlypromoted from the position of Cle r k1 to Clerk Steno 2 in the SmithersOOice.

E,H, ORTWEIN was promoted fr omMachine Operator 3 to Road Main­tenance Foreman.

5

New Face s In New Places

JIM HOLMES, District Office Man­ager at Merritt for the past is yearshas been transferred to the PersonnelOffice in Victoria, as Assistant to thePersonnel Officer. Jim commencedwith the Department in 1949 as a"trainee." In 1950 he transferred to theLillooet Office and then in 1952 hetook over the Yale District Office atMerritt. Jim and his wife Isobel havetwo children, a boy and a girl.

Many employees throughout the prov­ince will rem e m b e r CLIFFORD S."Cliff" CLARK, but if they wonder whythey have not seen him lately, it isbecause he has been Road MaintenanceForeman, stationed at Port Clementson the Queen Charlotte Islands. Cliffand his wife Melda, have six children.Cliff takes an active interest in com­munity affairs and is in much demandas a musician.

* * *J.R. CALLAGHAN, Resident Paving

Engineer, at Burns Lake (Omineca WestDistrict) seems to prefer the warmerclimate of the south, since he will betransferring to Lac la Hache possiblyin early July. Although he has been inOmineca West for only It years he hasbecome an active member of the com­munity. Everyone in Burns Lake andDistrict wishes him the best of luck

· In Region 2.6

WILLIAM A. BUDDEN, ResidentEnginee r 1, has been transferr ed fromthe Kaslo-S locan District to the NelsonCreston District , with headquar te r s atCres ton. Bill has r es ided at NewDenver since 1956, progressing throughthe Engineer ing Aide grades to thepresent class.ncatlon, For s ever alyears he has been Civil Defence Offi ­cer for New Denve r and Silver ton, andwas chiefly respons ib le for the estab­lishment of a civil defence office inthe local fire hall . A farewell partywas jointly sponsored by the Voluntar yFire Brigade and the Department ofHighways employees , at which Bill r e­ceived a fa rewell gift.

* * *

R.A. JACKMAN was transferred tothe s taff of the Ros sland- Tr ail Distr ictafter serving six year s in the Crestonarea as Resident Engineer . Bob, hi swife Haze l, their two sons and onedaughter will reside in Ross1and whereBob will wor k as Assi stant to the Dis ­trict Official.

* * *SILVIO TOG N E L A, his wife Jose ­

phine, and three chil dren a r e makingCranbrook their new home. Si wastransferr ed to Cranb r ook after servingas Rossland- Tr ail Office Mana ge r forthe past six yea r s . There will be noreplacement for Si at Ros s1and a s theaccounti ng duties wer e transfe r red toNelson•.

* * *Another ROs sland- Trail los s was

MISS INA' CLAIRE SW ANSON whoagreed to transfer to Nelson when anopening beca me available during Apr ilof this year. Ina ' Claire has not beenin Ross lan d very long but sh e is ac ­cumulating s enior ity and fr iends veryrapidly.

* * *J 0 i n i n g the crew at Beaverdell ,

Grand- Forks-Gree nwood District , isTruck Dr iver JAMES I. J ACKSON.James is married; he and Donna havetwo s mall sons . James is a member ofthe West Kettle Hand Gun Club and also

.enj oys hunting and fi shing. His re-maining spare time is spent improvinghis one- ac r e homestead. He would li keto say a spe cial "hello· to the cr ewat Athalrner ,

* * *A.J . KERNAGHAN was the su ccess­

ful applicant for the position of En­gineering Aide 3 at Cr anbrook, Hewas t ransfer r ed to the Distr ic t stafffrom the Location Br anch and hailstrom the Vernon area. He is mar r iedand has two daughters.

E.R. LONG, Resident Engineer, hasoeen transferred to the Esqui malt Dis­:r ict . Ted has wor ked for the Depart­nent since 1953 and was employed as~esident Enginee r in the Peace RiverDistrict for the Construction Branch.

On May 15, LAWRENCE G. MURRAYrepor ted to wor k for the Esquimal t­Saanich Distr ic t Engineer, Jack Hague ,as the successful applicantforthe RoadMaintenance Fo r e man Grade 4 pos i­tion in Victor ia. Laurie has workedCor the Depa rtment s ince 1937 and priorto his move was employed as a fore­man in Vernon, B.C.

Farewell presentation to ERNIE SHAN­NON, Engineer Aide, with the SUrveyCrew at William's Lake. Er nie workedfor the Department in William' s Lakefro m Octobe r 1962 to May 1965 beforebeing transferr ed to NewWestminster .Left to right, Bill Thi esen, Ba r r y Milne,Ernie Shannon, Jim Raven and GraemeRowand.

Laying new asphalt on a timber bridgedeck with wire mesh underlay in theNanatrno district. Project was under thesupervision of Arnold Glover, bridgeforeman. This method has proved satis­factory and provides a maintenance­free long-life surface.

7

By constructing several such sp1ll­ways he was able to keep the waterlevel on the road to approxi mate lyfour inches. This reduced the wavesfrom the cars and allowed a minimumof maintenance.

The cost of the labour and mater ial ssaved a washout which could have costthe Department $4,000 to repair.

He constructed the sp1llway by laying·poly" over the slope. He laid sandon the ·poly· and then folde d themover. The ends were then held downby sand bags and the tops by graderblades.

Washout Averted ByAlert Foreman

When flood water from McLeeseCreek threatened to wash out the Car i­boo Highway near Soda Creek, Road.Foreman Orval Barnes moved in veryquickly and constructed three spill­ways and prevented a maj or washout.

* * *

Resident Engineer B. J. ·Barney·Keane is trying out a Sandvik BrushCutter at Prince Rupert. The brushcutter may replace the machete and bean improvement over its bad safetyrecord.

The Pouce Coupe shop is both resourceful and busy. On the left, GeorgeTherrien, Mechanic Welder, poses with a mobile crack-filling machine designedand built by the shop. On the right is a Massey-Ferguson backhoe on which a cabwas added by Pouce Coupe. They also designed and built a steam unit with a 500­gallon tank mounted on a truck.

Transfers (Cont.)

The New Westminster District wel­comes its new Office Manager,GORDON ROWAND, who transferredfrom W1lliams Lake and started hisnew position June tst, Gordon ismarried and has three boys and onegirl. His family will join him aboutthe end of July. Gordon started withthe Department in New Westminster inJanuary, 1949 and worked in Rosslandand Williams Lake until his return. Helikes golf and curling and holds abaseball umpire's ticket.

* * *CLIFFORD L. GURR, Apprentice

Mechanic, was transferred from PrinceGeorge to the shop at Good Hope Lakenear Cassiar, in March 1965.

* * *After spending nine yearsasDistrict

Office Manager in Pri~ce Rupert, DONJ ACOBSEN, is being transferred to thesame position in W1lliam's Lake. Helooks forward to the move although. hewill miss his many friends in PrinceRupert. Don spent two years at Head­quarters before being transferred to thefield in June, 1956. Don is being re­placed by George Clay who is beingtransferred from Nelson.

Idea Corner

,It . + jIAre-" . ~

Bronze Awards were presented to QuesnelCrews. After many year. of trying, twocrew. in Que.nel have managed to receivethe Bronze Award of Merit for Safety.Bridge Foreman, Bob McLarry on left isholding the award presented to the bridgecrew and Rufus Wilson with the award tothe Ferry Crew

The Honorable P. A. Gaglardi presents Kamloops District personnel with Safety Awards:Left to rightJ . R. Krushnisky, District Superintendent accepting for the Kamloops Administration, En­

gineering and Survey crew, a Gold Certificate for 1,128,480hour•. Last accident before1952.

H. Surline, Construction Foreman, accepting for the Kamloope Construction crew, a GoldCertificate, for 68,052 hours. Last accident was April 1, 1961 .

A. Campbell, A88istant Mechanical Foreman, and Chairman of Safety Committee, accept­ing for the Kamloops Bridge crew, a Gold C~rtificate for 65,7~ hours .. Last accidentAugitsi 1, 1962; Mr. Campbell is also accepting for the Blue RIVer Maintenance crew,a Bronze Certificate for 44,340 hours. Last accident April. 1961.

Safety Awards

J . W. Nelson, Regional Highway Engineer.Mr. Gaglardi .D. c. HaU, District Office Manager, accepting for the Kamloops Ferry crew, a Gold Certifi­

cate for 202,320 hour•. Last accident before 1952.E. McLeod, Road Maintenance Foreman, accepting for the Savona Maintenance crew, a

Gold Certificate for 228,aJ6hours. Last accident Nov. 30, 1952.

A Gold Cap Award was presented to truckdriver Frank Powell of Que.nel. Frankwas hit on the head by a large lamp re­flector knocked loose when the garagedoor was opened. His hard hat saved himfrom injury

Arnold Glover, Bridge Foreman, Nanaimo, and crew receiving aBronze Safety Award from A . Caldwell, ReRional Safety Officer.8

Left to right, Henry Waterfield; Henry We.tfield, Road Fore_Ai Witzel, Senior Road Foreman Bill Gaze, Sign Foreman BillBennie, Courtenay crew receive Gold Award.

SAFETY NEWS

The North Okanagan annual safetymeeting held at the Lakeside Hotel,saw Regional Safety Officer HarryFrancis give one of his excellent talkson safety statistics.

J. Avender was chairman of the meet­Ing and topics discussed were resist­ance of hard hats to hard blows, properplacing of road signs on various typesof road, repairs and projects. A talkon carbon monoxide poisoning was glvenby Las, Johnson.

* * *The Enderby road crew has recelved

a Safety Shield Award for the secondyear. Members are N. J, Pada, I. R.Pengelly, W. R. Hutchison, D. M. Mac­nair, G. W. Graham, R. A. Warnock,H. E. Stenquist, G. A. Garner, R. T. J.Gowan.

* * *A Safety Rally was held at the Elks

Hallin Smithers on June 11,1965. Stevesvtatko, District Superintendent, Intro­duced the guest speaker-s, P. S. Dunn,Regional Safety Officer, and L. South­well, Workmen's Compensation repre­sentative, to the 72 employees present.Mr. Southwell presented a film and a"non-active" demonstration of blastingtactics and related safety precautions.Mr. Dunn strongly stressed the needfor an Increased participation andawareness of safety. Mr•. Dunn alsooutlined the meaning of!requency ratesand Indicated that theSmithers Districtfrequency rate was 18.1 as of May 31,1965.

• • •The Princeton garage crew have

achieved a Bronze Safety Award forcovering 31,004 safe man hours fromJanuary 14, 1963, to January 21, 1965.

* * *

The Penticton maintenance crew havealso been awarded a Bronze SafetyAward for having no time -loss acci­dents from May 7, 1962 to January 31,1965, a total of 69.772 man hours.

HAPPENINGS

BERNARD STALLYBRASS, roadmaintenance foreman, Galiano Island,won the championship for crib anddarts at the Galiano Golf and CountryClub.

JACK DODDRIDGE, office manager,Nanaimo, is In charge of the swimmingpool committeeoftheNanaimo KinsmenChrb, Jack is a very active Kinsman.The new pool will be a real asset toNanaimo and when completed will cost$65,000.

BelTS IN MILWAUKEE

Only 2 out of 29 drivers orfront seat passengers killed inMilwaukee traffic accidentslast year were wearing seatbelts at the time ofthe accident,according to the MilwaukeeSafety Commission. Of the 27victims not wearing belts, 12were in cars equipped withbelts. The remaining 15 hadno seat belts available.

"Ten-On-Two" Award

Roy Gittin«, New Westminster DistrictEngineer, presenting J. Graham, Bridge­man, with his "Ten-on-Two" safety award.

Scholarship Award

Frank Berry, Bridge Design Engineer inVictoria, was recently awarded the In­eW.trial Acceptance Good Roads Scholar- (ship for 1965-66 by the Canadian GoodRoads ABBociation. Mr. Berry is currentlystudying for his master's degree at McGillUniversity where his studies include ad­vanced concrete and steel design, appliedsoil mechanics 'and foundations. He hasbeen with the Department since 1956.

Back To Work

A. B. CAMPBELL, road foreman, isnow convalescing at home after a ssrt­ous operation in Vancouver. Ab hasbeen off work since March 31st, but hisco-workers hope to see him back withinthe next three or four weeks.

JOHN F. ROSS has been 111 sinceApril 9th, 1965, and his colleagues allhope to see him back on the job soon.

P. R. FLOOD broke his foot In Maydoing home chores. He Is now limpingand In good shape.

Friends of CARL SHAW, districtsuperintendent at Gold en, will bepleased to learn that his illness In mid­May was not caused by a heart attackas was originally diagnosed. Seems hehad an attack of a rare ailment knownas "Sudden Pneumonitis," tne symp­toms of which are exactly the same asthose of a heart seizure. An electro­cardiograph proved that his heart isstill sound and he has since made acomplete recovery from the nearlyfatal pneumonia attack.

BOB RITCHIE, grader operator atCassidy, has returned to work after amajor operation.

GUS BERGLAND, powder man, SaltSpring Island, is back on the jack­hammer after a spell in .the hospital.

JACK AMIES,. road maintenanceforeman, Pender Island, Is sporting abig cast on his left arm which he brokeplaying football during the May 24thholiday weekend. Jack says he scoreda goal after he broke his arm.

EARL MOORE, of the Nanaimo roadcrew, is back to work after a lengthyIllness.

ARNOLD GLOVER, bridge foreman,Is back on the job after a spell in hos­pital where he underwent an operation.

GORDON BRIGHTON, of the Cassidyroad crew, is back on the job after anabsence due to illness.

One of the university students em­ployed by the Department in the NorthPeace River District during the pastfew summers Is John Anonby, who re­cently earned his Master of Arts degre&at U.B.C. He will be teaching at theUniversity of Western Ontario this fall.

* * *The husbana wno asks his Wife for

advice-just hasn't been li-stening.9

10-7 CLUBOffice Manager Feted

F. J . (FEE) DOOLING, District OfficeManage r at Cranbrook, was feted at areti r ement banquet on April 29, at thestop and Go Inn, Cranbrook, B.C. Mr.

Dooling reti red after 25 years of serv­ice with the Department of Highways.Among those att ending were the districtoffice manage r s from Golden, Nelson,New Denver, Gr and Forks, Victoria,and the regional office managers fromNorth Vancouver, Kamloops and Nel­son, toget her with Regional 3 person­nel . Mr. Dooling was presented with aset of golf clubs , cart and golf shoes.He was also presented with a 25 YearMeritorious Ser vice Scroll by Mr. W.M. Sproul, 'Regional Maintenance En­gineer.

ERNIE STUBENVOLL is seen ad­ml ring a wallet presented to him onhis last day With the Department. Erniestarted with the Department as an ax­man May 11, 1948, alter having workedat Vidette Mines . He spent, most ofhis ti me with the Department Bridgecrew. Ernie is plannklg on spending thefirst part of his retirement on an ex­tended t r ip to his homeland, Australia,as soon as he can obtai n reservations.10

On Tuesday, June 15, at 2:30p.m.,friends of DORCYrHY (SUSAN) NEE­SHAM gathered in the office of theHonorable the Minister to mark her re­tirement. Mr. Gaglardi wished her thebest of luck and presented her with avanity case and a purse containing poundnotes for a future trip to ,England. Abouquet of flowers was also presented.The ceremony concluded 15 years ofGovernment service.

She will continue to live in Victoriawhere her daughter resides, being mar­ried to R. R. (Bob) Bayne oftheTrafflcBranch.

* * *Office clerk MRS. LOU BRUCE has

resigned her position in the SmithersDistrict Office because of illness. Hercheerful personality will be missed byall the staff.

* * *On June 10th, 1965, WILLIAMIRVING

MILNER of the Chase crew retired. Aretirement party was held at RayMeek'S home on June 25th, when a re-

. tirement gift was presented to Ir v,

* * *JONAS ARTHUR LUYAT, grader op­

erator at Agassiz in the ChilliwackDistrict, retired June 1st, 1965, after12 years with the Department. His hob­bies are fishing, hunting and gardening.

* * *ROY HENRY AALTEN, foreman at

Nakusp, retired April 1, 1965. Firstemployed by the Public Works Depart­ment in 1933, he has worked in theGovernment service since then , exceptfor a period of war service with theCanadian Home Guard. A retirementparty was given by his fellow employees,at which he was presented With a purseand a model of the Government pickuptruck in which he has been a famlllarfigure for many hears.

GORDON McDONALD has retiredfrom the Galiano Island Road Mainten­ance crew. Mr. McDonald was a truckdriver on Galiano Island.

Retirement Honors ForM echanica l Foreman

MR. and MRS. F . H. LEWIS wereguests of honor, June 15th, at a dinnerheld by the Department of HighwaysEmployees at the Imperial PalaceRestaurant. Following the dinner, asocial evening was held during whichMr. R. E. McKeown, District Superin­tendent, presented Mr. Lewis with adesk set on behalf of fellow empl oyees .The set was SUitably ins cribed tocommemorate Mr. Lewis' service withthe Department from February 1938 toJune, 1965. Miss Giselle Oullet pre­sented Mrs. Lewis with a corsage ofwhite carnations. Mr. and Mrs. Lewisplan to spend their years of r etirementin California,

On May 5, 1965, members of thePrince Rupert office staff and outs idecrew assembled at the yar d office toextend best wishes and bid goodbye topopular stockman L. R. (LARRY) VAL­ENTINE. He was presented with aSUitably inscribed desk set on the oc­easton of his resignation to take anappointment With a local firm. Larrycommenced employment with the De­partment in 1949, and over the yearsmade a host of friends.

* * *JACK RICHARDSON retired fro m the

Cassidy Road Maintenance crew. Mr.Richardson started with the Departmentin 1953.

11

Bridge foreman Bob McLarry sur­veys the Beavermouth River , whichtook out a 67- foot s pan and will nowrequire a 132-foot br idge to gap thewidened channel.

A small creek from which it is nor­mally difficult to get a drink turnedInto a fri ghtening torrent and createdthis cha sm on the Fraser Road. Roadforeman Robbie Wr ight was still tooawed at this time to knowwhat remedi­al steps to take.

JOHN S. BUCHANANretired from theDepartment in July, 1965, having spentall 15 years of service in the NorthVancouver District. John plans to go toNew Zealand In October and to workas a showcard arti st.

10-7 Club (Cont.)

the government, the follOWing filmshave been completed - the famous"Rogers Pass" and • Port Mann" andfour training films have been made(patching technique , epoxy surfacingLions Gate Bridge, etc.)

"Rogers Pass" has won world ac­claim and won the following awards:International Film Festival Awards­Edinburgh, San Francisco, Trento,Italy, Vancouver, B.C. and Victoria,B.C.; Best Produced B.C. Film; TopCanadian Film in its Category; Cer­tificate of Merit at Canadian FilmAwards; Chris Award at Ohio, U.s.A.;and at the moment is receiving aterrific reception In Moscow, Russia.

Spring Runoff-Quesnel

On June 11th, Peter left for Ugandaas Canadian advisor to the Ministryof Information and Broadcast. He willset up a wildlife film unit and adviseon T.V. production, .r etatned by theGovernment of Canada un d e r thescheme established between Canada andUganda for technical co - operation.Peter was approached by the CanadianGovernment to undertake this project.

After losing the Carlboo Highway toa washout at Hawks Creek, traffic wasdetoured over the old Cariboo High­way. The same creek managed to under­cut the bents on the Springfield bridgewhich collapsed under the transporttruck shown in the photo, above, Trafficwas restored by the end of the day upon.completion of a Bailey Bridge on theCariboo Highway by the Williams Lakecrew.

Spri ng run off caused considerable damage In the Quesnel ar ea th is year .Crews wer e kept busy for man y hours keeping bridges and culverts from beingwashed out. The water did win out In some cases as Is evident from the photos.

Peter is married and has two girls,Kim, eight year s and Caitlin , fouryears. All the family Is looking forwardto the trip.

Friends and colleagues of Mr.Elkington met In the office of theHonorable the Minister in Victoria June7, to make a pr esentation and to wishhim well . He joined the Departmentto make documentar y and training filmsIn 1963.

Pe ter John Elkington was born InBirm ingham , England, and had hiselementary schooling in Birmingham,Holly Lodge Grammar School in theMidlands, and Newport in Shropshire.He took his univer s ity entrance atBirmingham, then joined up as a buckprivate in the army with the BlackWatch. He was a Knight Commando.He was commissioned In the IndianArmy-5th Gurkha Rifles. He was withthe 14th Army Burma Chlndtts, whowere responsible for long-range junglepenetration, and was acting captain un­der the famous General Wingate. Ontermination of the war, he was a major.

After the war, Peter came to Canadaand worked In Nova Scotia for thr eeyears. He drove a Jeep across Canadato the West Coast In 1949, where heworked in radio stations in Nanalmoand Vancouver as a private broad­caste r and handled advertising. In 1952he left r adio and did odd jobs-logging,deep sea fishing - to earn enough toenable him to attend Stanfo rd Universityand take the Uni versity T el evis ion In­s ti tute courses from which he obtainedhis Diploma of P roficiency.

In 1954, he joined CBC In Vancouveras se nior tele vision producer. In thisjob, he covered the British EmpireGames, several royal tours, manydocumentari es and other events.

In 1962 he felt the need for a changeand went free lancing, and then cameto the Highways Department in 1963as film producer. During his time With

FILM PRO DUCERLeaves For Uganda

Produce r of the award-winning film"Rogers Pass," Peter Elkington, haslef t the service of the Department ofHighways to take a film and T.V. postwith the government of Uganda, Africa,

Pe k Int

Pavement failure along the Enderby-Mabel Lake road, approxi­mately mile 17}-2, June 11, 1928.

Vernon-Kelowna road, December 1927, Cut and fill at mile 414,bulldozer shoving material dumped by revolving fresno over sideof fill.

Woods Lake section of the Vernon-Kelowna road, approximatelymile 15, June 3, 1928.

12

T e Past.

Universal shovel working in Moricetown-Hazelton section-picturetaken in the 1930's.

Slide clearing with a pull grader a few years ago. Graderman isR. H. Aalten, later Foreman at Naksup and now retired. Tractoroperator is E. P. Nelson, Road Maintenance Foreman, NewDenver.

Woven wire fence along section of Vernon-Kelowna road over­hanging Kalamalka Lake in 1927.

The Electrical Crew FREAK ACCIDENT

Father And Son

13

Robert Bagley, a graduate of the Nanaimo Senior HighSchool, was a member of a high school graduating classattending a Vocational Training Day organized by the NanaimoRotary Club, Robert was the guest of Rotarian, DistrictSuperintendent John W. Morris, and spent a day seeing howthe District operates. Robert is the son of Les Bagley, theNanalmo loader operator. Robert and his father are seentogether on the job.

Effect of a 50-foot drop by a D7 cat on the -Big Slide­area 12 miles south of LilIooet on Highway 12, is shown hereafter a freak accident. The operator, Jim Armstrong, es­caped serious injury when he jumped clear. He suffered onlyminor abrasions. The accident occured when some rocksjammed in the controls and caused the machine to roll outof control.

Herb GutteridgeArt Bailey

This is the crew responsible for the maintenance of trafficsignals and street lights on our highways with the exceptionof some of the major bridges. The crew comes under thesupervision of Mr. R.D. Page, Regional Traffic Superintend­ent, North Vancouver. The territory they normally cover isthe Fraser Canyon as far as Boston Bar and the Lower Main­land. Vancouver Island and the other Regions are visitedperiodically. Since Burnaby is the only repair shop, all areasuse these facilities and replacements are sent from here.

Regional stores and Traffic Branch electrical stores arekept in the Burnaby yard under the supervision of JohnHutchinson. Herb Gutteridge cares for the shop equipmentrepairs and the setting up of new equipment. Foreman ArtBailey and Herb Gutteridge both hold Certificates of Meritfrom the Traffic School of the Canadian General Electricat Vancouver and the Automatic Signals Division in Norwalk,Connecticut, U.S.A. The field work is done by the rest of thecrew who work in pairs.

This crew is kept busy with repairs, lamp replacements,damage repairs, signal revisions and new in­stallations; but they also find time to add extra lights andmake repairs here and there in the buildings and yards.Many of the special relays for traffic signals are designedand built in the shop. A special burglar alarm was designedand built to prevent vandalism.

Fifteen years ago the crew started with Art and Herband one ladder truck working out of the old garage at PatulloBridge. There were no traffic signals and street lighting wasinstalled only on the major bridges. Today there are nine men,two Giraffe trucks and one panel truck maintaining upwards of150 traffic signals and countless street lights. There islighting at every major intersection and interchange. TheTrans-Canada Highway alone has 500 street lighting unitsbetween Vancouver and Port Mann, each with two lamps.Lynn Valley interchange has 178 similar units. Port MannBridge has 3400 lamps in its rail lighting alone.

The work load is expanding rapidly With the accompany­ing shortage of storage space, but the crew is happy andtakes pride in its work.

Al and Lenora Limacher react to a farewell poem composed by.the Prince Rupert officestaff and read by R. G. Mulcaster.

* * *

WEDDINGS

Marian Long and Bruce Atkins onwer e united in marriage by the Rev.J . Brown Milne in the Saint Andrew' sand Saint Stephen's P r esbyter ianChurch, North Vancouver . The r ecep­tion was attended by 100 gues ts , afterwhich the young couple spent theirhoneymoon in the Okanagan. They willreside in North Vancouver , whereMarian is secretary to the RegionalMaintenance Engineer .

On April 17, 1965, F r edO.Chamber sand 'Evelyn Staley wer e unit ed in mar­riage at Cal vary Baptist Church in Ft.st. John, where they are making theirhome. Fred has been with the Depar t­ment since 1956 and is road foreman.

On March 27th, 1965, Jim G. Parkerand Audrey I. Fell wer e united in mar­riage at the Burch Presbyterian Chur chin Fort st. John. J im is employed asa mechanic with the Depar tment ofHighways in Fort st. Jo hn, where theyreside .

HAPPENINGSR. B. GILMOUR, district superinten­

dent, Chilliwack, leaves July 15th fora three-week tour of England, Irelandand Scotland.

GORDON VANCE, engineering aideat Chilliwack, placed first in the ThirdAnnual Squamtsh Steelhead Derby lastApril 11th, with a lO-pound, four-ouncebuck steelhead, Gordon won a sleepingbag, split cane rod, reel and assortedfishing equipment. The derby, spon­sored by the Kingfishers' Club of NorthVancouver, is held at the CheakamusRiver.

The Department of Highways bowlingteam, the Hiwaymen, represented byAL ISLEY, WAYNE HOLTSKOG, EDKAMINSKI, LEY YORK, LARRY MUR­RAY, JOE AVENDER andBILLHELM-" .SING, won the men's bowling leaguein Vernon.

welcomed the Jackmans to this partyin their honour, to which Mr. Jackmanalso replied.

A corsage of roses was presentedto Mrs Jackman.

On behalf of the Regional and Dis­trict staffs, Regional Engineer BobHarvey presented Mr. Limacher withafishing outfit and Mrs. Llmacher re­ceived a dozen red roses from DistrictSuperintendent Allan Park.

Al remarked that he had been in thenorth for sixteen years, nine of them inRegion Four. He observed that afterothers had completed their sixteenyears up there he expected to see themtransferred to Victoria too.

* * *A party was given by the Creston

Government Employees' Association inhonour of Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Jackmanat the Cathollc Hall in Creston , onFriday evening, April 2, 1965. Mr.(Bob) Jackman was recently trans­ferred from Creston to Rossland,

A turkey dinner, prepared and servedby members of the Catholic Women'sLeague, was enjoyed by the large crowdpresent, and at the banquet table thepresentation of an engraved silver teaservice was made to Mr. and Mrs.Jackman by Mr. R. H. Dill, residentengineer, Department of Highways,Nelson, B.C.

Mr. Dill spoke for all present whenhe talked of the high esteem in whichthe Jackmans are held by their man}friends and acquaintances.

Mr. Jackman, responding appro­priately on behalf of his wife and him­self, stated that he had enjoyed Iivlngin the Creston Valley and would havemost pleasant memories of friends andassociates. The initial speech of theevening was given by Mr. R. G. White,District Engineer from Nelson, who14

Social EventsA.R. Limacher was recently trans­

ferred from Prince George to Victoriawhere he filled a new position of Ad­ministrative Assistant.

Prior to leaving Prince George, Aland his wife Lenora were honoured bytheir many friends in the Department ata social evening in Prince George onApril srd, It was feared for a timethat the hall rented was not big enough ­people attending from as far as Fortst. John and Terrace.

On The Job

The last day of work for Salmon Arm District's faithful MichiganTruck Shovel was put in on the Trans -Canada Highway west ofSicamous The operator, Henry Fennel, on the left, has been operating in the Salmon Arm District for 25 years and his assistant,Danny McLeannan, (Padman) has been with the District since

the ·'thirties. )J

Tony Bieganski and Euclid Tremblay placing a 6O~ incli beam inplace on Bissette Creek Bridge on Highway No.2, south of PouceCoupe.

Resident Engineer, Joe A vender, andRoad Foreman, Les York, 'on the job atbridge site near Okanagan Lake.

'Karen Shepherd, smiling and pretty clerkin the Nanaimo Office. What more is thereto say?

District Superintendent, W. G. Helmsing,and Road Foreman, Les York, look overbridge site on the west side of OkanagonLake.

·· ~( ··,. :"iillit ·"

Another old faithful was eliminated when the old Murphy Creek Bridge on Highway No. 3A between Trail and Kinnaird was replaced by"a 365 foot long, 18 feet diameter multiple culvert and 250,000 cubic yard {ill .

15

TER PASS OPENING General Road News

Brushing crew at work on the Trans-Can ­ada highway south of Nanaimo. Left toright, Tom Cathers and Lewis Grey,

Okanagan. This route has gained som econsiderable reputation in the past andwas known for its many curves andsteep hills. It was a feat of major pr o­portions for many of the vehicles tosuccessfully negotiate this route andtoda y we have one of the fines t high­ways that has been developed in Br iti shColumbia, certainly not one that couldbe relegated by any means to a second­ary position in the code of standards-

0 0

Erection of platform and .upervi. ion ofceremonies for the Riciuer Pass OpeningtJrraT/lled by, kft to right, Edward A ller­cot, Albert Proulx, Public Relations Offi­cial Harry Francis, and Robert Batie.

A 8lide reduced a section of the A lberni ­Tofino road to one-way traffic and result ·ed in a major rock cut to move the road to.solid ground.

20th century, Richter Pass was thefunnel through which all packtralns,people, afoot or on horseback, and beefcattle droves passed to the miningcamps along the Dewdney trail scat­tered from Rock Creek through theBoundary and into the Kootenays,

One party to go through the passis worth y of special mention, On April10, 1883, Civil War General WUliamTecumseh Sherman wrote to the UnitedStates secretary of war, Robert T.Lincoln, as follows: - As you are awareI propose to visit, during the comingsummer, certain military places nearour northern, or Canadian frontier. Inone part of my projected route, I amsure the mountains will force me tothe Territory of British Columbia; viz;in the months of July and August fromColville via Osoyoos to Hope on theFraser River;"

In the early 1880's the originaltrail was converted to a road by thelate Frank X. Richter, whohad acquiredthe property in Boundary Valle y froma Mr. Schwartz and proceeded to builda home. It was necessary to Widen thetrail so the ox carts could negotiatethe mountainous terrain and make itpossible to move roughl y sawn lumberto the location where the old Richterranch house now stands.

By using the oxen and a plow,' fur rows were made for the wheels 01the wagons to run in thus preventine:the loads from spilling aown the sidehiils.

This was the beginning of the firstroad that could be used by vehicles tocross over the mountains between thevalleys and the Similkameen and the

On Jul y 7, 1965, another bypass,which wUl eventually become part ofthe Southern Trans-Canada Highway,was offici all y opened. This section,known as the Richter Pass, lying be­tween Kere meos and Osoyoos, wasopened by the Honorable Frank Richter,son of the pioneer after whom thepas s was named , and the Honorable P,A. Gaglardi, While this might be a newhighway with many virtues, it IS nota new route,

In March, 1865, when Edgar Dewd­ney, builde r of the trail from Hope toVermilUon For ks (Princeton) in 1860,was instructed by Governor Seymourto extend it to East Kootenay, his or­ders read in par t: -I am very desfrousthat our pack trains should be able totranspor t goods from Fort Hope toWild Horse (creek) without having topass through American territory•• •• -

From Princeton, Dewdney beganthis extens ion by following an old Indianpath along the Similkameen River andthrough a low divide in the Okanaganmountains to Osoyoos Lake.

Early use by pioneers may havebegun in 1856 when Hiram (Okanogan)Smith secured a contract to carry mailfrom For t Hope to Marcus, U.s.A.

It was used again by the HudsonBay Company, about 1859, when FortOkanogan on the Columbia River wasabandoned and its merchandise andtrade goods moved to Kererneos, TheIndian path came into recorded historyagain when pioneer settler Francis X.Richter crossed the1border at osovoos,in 1864, with 42 head of cattle he wasdr iving to the Similkameen,

From the late 1860's and into the16