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Archival description
Ministry of Transportation and Highways films and videotapes
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The breadwinners

The item is a release print of an industrial film from 1972. It depicts the variety of jobs performed by BC workers, and the role of the WCB in promoting safety and protecting and assisting injured workers. Includes much footage of job sites and people at work (especially miners, loggers and construction workers). Other footage includes a dramatization of an injured man being rushed to hospital by floatplane and ambulance; the International First Aid Championships, with simulated accident victims and competing industrial first aid teams; opening of the new WCB administration complex in Vancouver; scenes in the offices of the WCB; injured workers taking part in physiotherapy and other activities at the WCB's rehabilitation centre in Vancouver; sod-turning for the Leslie R. Petersen Rehabilitation Centre in Richmond. Film begins with long morning sequence of workers going to work, and includes historical background on the role of these "breadwinners" in BC's development.

Construction of the Lion's Gate Bridge, Vancouver

The item consists of an ECO master made from an industrial film originally made between 1937 and 1939. It contains a detailed record of the construction of the First Narrows Bridge (Lion's Gate Bridge) between Vancouver and the North Shore of Burrard Inlet. A.J.T. Taylor, who promoted the idea of the bridge and the residential development of the North Shore, is seen discussing the plans with architect John Anderson. The bridge was first crossed by a car on November 4, 1938 and opened to the public on November 12, 1938. John Anderson receives the first toll ticket. Charles Marega's sculptured lions are shown. The "Empress of Japan" steams under the bridge. On May 29, 1939 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth cross the bridge and later, under naval escort, they pass under it aboard a ship bound for Victoria.

The Fraser Canyon

The item consists of a release print of a documentary film in two reels, made ca. 1958. It tells the history of the Fraser Canyon, from Simon Fraser through to the surveying of the Cariboo Road during the Cariboo gold rush, and the construction of the modern-day highway through the canyon. Includes re-enactments of historical scenes (explorers, prospectors, Royal Engineers building road, etc.) and early film footage of the highway, ca.1920s.

Hope slide

The item is an edited reversal print from 1965. It show the aftermath of the huge landslide on the Hope-Princeton Highway 12 miles east of Hope, on January 9, 1965. There are extensive aerial views of slide area, ravaged mountainside, surrounding landscape; helicopter flying over site; ground crews at work, digging in rubble, searching for vehicles and bodies (including use of dogs and metal detector); heavy equipment clearing temporary roadway; blasting; crews working, erecting signs; wrecked vehicles in snow; travelling shot from new road; crew removing barriers to open road.

Rivers rising

The item is a release print of an educational film from 1974. It shows the roles played by various departments and agencies of the BC government in monitoring, preventing, preparing for and dealing with high water and flooding due to spring run-off. Regular snow pack measurement carried out by crews from Hydrology Division of the Water Investigations Branch, Water Resources Service, shown here checking instruments at the headwaters of Mission Creek (Okanagan Valley); flood control by dams (the Hugh Keenleyside Dam on the Columbia) and flood gates (Okanagan Falls); dyke construction; Dept. of Highways dyke patrols in the Fraser Valley during high water period; stockpiles of sandbags and bailey bridge components; the Lower Fraser Valley Flood Organization; Dept. of Agriculture preparations to evacuate and feed livestock; the role of the Provincial Emergency Program. Includes scenes of early and actual flooding on the Fraser River in 1972, and along the Similkameen River, as well as archival stills of the 1894 and 1948 Fraser River floods.

Rogers Pass

The item is a release print of a promotion film on two reels. It depicts the history of Rogers Pass and the construction of the section of the Trans-Canada Highway that runs through it. Includes a re-enactment of the pass's discovery in 1881 by Major A.B. Rogers.

Ministry of Transportation and Highways films and videotapes

  • GR-3371
  • Series
  • 1935-1939 ; 1958-2000

The series consists of films and videos created or acquired by the Ministry of Transportation and Highways, and its predecessor bodies, between 1935 and 1939 and 1958 and 2000. The films and videos cover all aspects of Transportation and Highways issues.

British Columbia. Ministry of Transportation and Highways

Pre-trip inspection

The item consists of a training video produced by the British Columbia Government Production Centre in 1981 for the Ministry of Transportation and Highways Training and Safety Branch. Training officer Vic Barrett demonstrates the detailed procedure of pre-trip inspection to be used by Highways personnel when operating Ministry vehicles and aircraft.

Geology and soils

The item consists of two video tapes created by the Ministry of Transportation and Highways in 1979. The item contains an interactive instructional telesession on geology and soils given to remote Ministry staff and was the first telecourse offered by the Ministry on the Knowledge Network.

Staff orientation

The item consists of a video tape created by the Ministry of Transportation and Highways, Manpower Planning and Staff Development office in 1982. It contains a training video for Ministry staff to explain to staff about who works for the Ministry and what they do as well as basic information for new staff. The video is a combination of moving image footage set to music and still images with voice over explanations. The video was produced by the B.C. Government TV Production Centre and broadcast by the Knowledge Network.

The Annacis system : the road to a better British Columbia

The item is a promotional videocassette from 1980. After looking at the growing traffic congestion problem on the southern approaches to Greater Vancouver, this presentation discusses the proposed solution -- the Annacis system, which will includes a cable-stayed suspension bridge over the Fraser River, and its approach roads. The project is scheduled for completion in 1984. Video version of a slide/tape presentation.

The Coquihalla

The item is an industrial video from ca. 1985. It is a historical account of the construction of the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Merritt. The film highlights general grade and bridge construction, as well as the erection of the reinforced retaining walls and the Dry Gulch Bridge. Also explored are the planning procedures, the management process, offsite component manufacture, and the environmental mitigation measures.

The Coquihalla Highway : 20 months through the mountains

The item is an industrial video from ca. 1985. It is a historical account of the construction of the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Merritt. The film highlights general grade and bridge construction, as well as the erection of the reinforced retaining walls and the Dry Gulch Bridge. Also explored are the planning procedures, the management process, offsite component manufacture, and the environmental mitigation measures.

End of an era

The item is a videocassette of a documentary from ca. 1986. It shows the old North Bend Aerial Ferry, which operated across the Fraser River at Boston Bar from March 1940 to January 1986. The aerial ferry, believed to be the last of its type in North America, was a familiar landmark and a part of the daily routine in Boston Bar and North Bend. It was replaced by a bridge, which could accommodate the logging industry's need for heavier hauls.

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