The Forgotten Book Series
January 10th, 2025
The Brilliant Suspension Bridge
Peter Vasilevich “Lordly” Verigin acquired property in the West Kootenay and Boundary region for the Christian Community of University Brotherhood (CCUB) in 1908. The first land purchase was 2000 acres near the confluence of the Kootenay River and the Columbia River. He named the community Brilliant. As well, the land was purchased on the other side of the Kootenay River. The community formed there was “Dolina Ootischenia” (The Valley of Consolation).
The Doukhobors at first operated a ferry link to the communities. By 1912, it was decided that a bridge needed to be built. A Vancouver engineering firm, Cartwright, Matheson, and Company was hired to develop a bridge plan.
The suspension span is 331 feet in length. At each end of the bridge, reinforced concrete towers rise nearly 50 feet above the roadbed. The towers sit on a massive base of concrete about 12 feet thick and 34 feet wide. Four two-inch diameter steel cables run the length of the bridge, and at the top of the tower, pass over a saddle supported on rollers. The cables are anchored directly into the rock faces on both sides of the river.
The bridge was constructed entirely by Doukhobor volunteers. The volunteers often worked 11 hour days and completed the bridge in seven months. Though the work was dangerous, no injuries or deaths were reported. The CCUB paid the $60,000 cost while BC Public Works reimbursed them $19,500. The bridge was open to pedestrian traffic in October of 1913 and to vehicles a month or so later.
Brilliant became the economic centre of the growing Doukhobor communities. The CCUB paid administrative offices were located in Brilliant. The Kootenay-Columbia Preserving works “The Jam Factory” was built in 1915. There was also a linseed oil press, a grain elevator, a flour mill, and sawmills.
The bridge was maintained and primarily used by the Doukhobor community. However, by 1957, the development of the Castlegar Airport in Ootischenia and the need for better highway connections between Nelson and Castlegar led to the Department of Highways taking over the bridge’s maintenance until a replacement was built in 1966.
The suspension bridge fell into disrepair. By the late 1980s, safety concerns led to the removal of the approaches, and barricades were erected to prevent the use of the bridge.
In 1991, the Brilliant Bridge Restoration Committee was organized. By 1995, the bridge was declared a National Historic Site. In 2009, a restoration project was started with donations from numerous sponsors. The bridge opened in May of 2010 with a final cost of over a million dollars. In October of 2013, the hundredth anniversary of the bridge, Heritage BC awarded the bridge its highest award — Outstanding achievement.
