Canadian National Passes Hell's Gate, Fraser River Canyon, BC
A Canadian National mixed consist passes Hell's Gate on route to Vancouver. So named by Simon Fraser, Hell's Gate is the narrowest part of the Fraser River being just over 100 feet wide. Early in the 20th century Canadian Northern Pacific Railway crews started blasting the canyon walls with explosives and inevitably this sent large amounts of debris into the water below. Initially there was no cause for concern as the falling rock was easily dispersed, however on February 23 1914, after the railway workers had left, over 100,000 cubic yards of granite plunged into the river, leaving a gap of just over 74 feet for the water to run through. Work began the following month to remove the rubble, but this failed to prevent significant damage to migrating salmon numbers, which even today have not recovered to their former level. Today, high water level sees in excess of 200 million gallons of water per minute flow through the gorge.
Canadian National Passes Hell's Gate, Fraser River Canyon, BC
A Canadian National mixed consist passes Hell's Gate on route to Vancouver. So named by Simon Fraser, Hell's Gate is the narrowest part of the Fraser River being just over 100 feet wide. Early in the 20th century Canadian Northern Pacific Railway crews started blasting the canyon walls with explosives and inevitably this sent large amounts of debris into the water below. Initially there was no cause for concern as the falling rock was easily dispersed, however on February 23 1914, after the railway workers had left, over 100,000 cubic yards of granite plunged into the river, leaving a gap of just over 74 feet for the water to run through. Work began the following month to remove the rubble, but this failed to prevent significant damage to migrating salmon numbers, which even today have not recovered to their former level. Today, high water level sees in excess of 200 million gallons of water per minute flow through the gorge.