SPANNING TIME: THE BRIDGES OF OTTAWA-GATINEAU

Spanning Time: The Bridges of Ottawa-Gatineau

by Adriana David

Foreword by Ron Corbett

A place where three rivers meet. This is Canada’s capital, although in a city best known for politics it is easy to forget this fundamental fact – Ottawa is a river city.

Adriana David has never forgotten. She has spent decades paddling down, running aside, and being amazed by Ottawa’s three great rivers – the Ottawa, Rideau, and Gatineau. In time, she became just as enthralled with the city’s bridges. 

It’s easy to understand why. Bridges -- if you’re willing to look, if you’re willing to take the time -- will tell you everything you need to know about a river city.

In their spans you can see the first settlers and the growing communities along the riverbanks,

the entrepreneurs, politicians, immigrants, and monarchs who built and transformed this country, the First Nations who came before all of them, travelling along trade routes that led to the first bridges.  

Discover the story behind each bridge that connects the provinces, the

neighbourhoods and the people of Ottawa and Gatineau and the triumphs and tragedies that

lay embedded in their stones and steel. Their quiet, constant beauty is the backdrop to Canada’s Capital, and to the unstoppable passage of time.